Teen found dead at Bernstein High School, 3 others hospitalized after overdosing on fentanyl-laced Percocet
One teenage girl died, and three other teenagers were hospitalized after they were found to have overdosed at a school in Hollywood and a nearby park.
All the teenagers are believed to have gotten Percocet laced with fentanyl at Lexington Park, where two of the teens were found. The park is less than a mile from Bernstein High School, where two 15-year-old girls had also overdosed, including a girl whose body was found in a bathroom.
The grim discoveries were made by a parent who was concerned his stepdaughter had not come home. He had reported his stepdaughter missing at 2:30 p.m., and continued looking for her. He eventually made his way to the school, in the 1300 block of North Wilton Place, and found her suffering from an overdose in the courtyard and called police.
LAPD officers arrived at the school at about 9 p.m. The girl told her stepfather that her friend had also overdosed and was in a bathroom. The officers got staff, who were at an on-campus event, to get inside the school, where they found the second girl unresponsive inside a bathroom stall. Paramedics tried to help the girl, but she was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
Both of the girls at the school were students. The girl who survived was hospitalized in stable condition. Her friend's name has withheld pending notification of her family.
The survivor told police that they bought the pills they overdosed on from the same dealer at Lexington Park, in the 5500 block of Lexington Avenue.
That's where investigators determined two more teenagers were found to have overdosed. A 17-year-old Hollywood High School student is in stable condition, but the condition and age of the second teen is not known. It's not clear if the teens at the park knew the Bernstein High students, but Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said such incidents have become an increasing occurrence, with reports of at least six people who go to schools nearby trying to sell drugs to students at that very park over the past three weeks.
"It's a park well-known for allowing individuals to sell drugs, to provide drugs, to some of our students," Carvalho said.
"There should be no harm associated with a school, a park, just because an individual with ill intent decides to spread destruction and death to our young people," he said of the park, which has since been closed.
In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Carvalho went on to disclose that over the past three weeks, six different LAUSD students have been located at the park with the intention of purchasing narcotics.
Police parents should have serious conversations with their children about the danger.
"The most important thing is to make sure that everybody's aware they're selling the poison out here in this park, and keep your kids away from it," LAPD Lt. John Radtke said.
In a statement, LAUSD officials said grief counselors would be available on-site to support students and employees.
"As we work together with LAPD To uncover the details of this tragic situation, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of both students," the statement said in part.
