Riverside police probe nearly fatal fentanyl poisoning at high school

Riverside police Saturday were continuing an investigation into a near-fatal drug overdose involving a student at Arlington High School who collapsed on campus after consuming a pill containing fentanyl.

“This investigation reinforces the ongoing collaborative efforts to educate our community, and more importantly our youth, about the dangerous consequences fentanyl and other narcotics are responsible for,” Riverside Police Chief Larry Gonzalez said.

“When you engage in illicit drug use, you don’t know exactly what you’re putting into your body. And with marijuana, pills, and many other narcotics intentionally being laced with fentanyl so often now, the next time could easily be your last.”

According to police spokesman Officer Ryan Railsback, the fentanyl poisoning occurred on Oct. 20, and since then, two people have been arrested on suspicion of supplying the drug, but authorities declined to release their identities.

The investigation is ongoing.

Railsback said the victim, identified only as a female student at Arlington, was in the main office when she lost consciousness, prompting an assistant principal, a police officer assigned to the campus as a resource officer and other staff to initiate life-saving measures, including deployment of a defibrillator kept in the office.

“Their efforts revived the student. She started breathing, and her pulse returned,” Railsback said.

The girl was additionally given Narcan, a stimulant to revive overdose victims, and she recovered, he said.

“We are grateful that the student is safe,” Riverside Unified School District Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker said. “This is the first known case of fentanyl affecting a student within RUSD, and we would like it to be the last. Students and families need to know that fentanyl is real and deadly.”

“We urge families to continue to talk to their children about the dangers of fentanyl, and drugs in general,” he continued. “It takes all of us to advocate for our students and their safety.”

According to Railsback, the girl had taken an M30 counterfeit oxycodone tablet that she was able to procure via a provider she contacted online. It’s doubtful the seller told her the drug contained fentanyl.

Statistics published in May by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed there were roughly 108,000 fatal drug overdoses in 2021, and fentanyl poisoning accounted for over 80,000 of them.

The synthetic opioid is manufactured in overseas labs, including in China, and according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, it’s smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels. The substance is 80-100 times more potent than morphine and can be mixed into any number of street narcotics and prescription drugs, without the user knowing what he or she is consuming. Ingestion of only two milligrams can be fatal.

On Oct. 20, Riverside County initiated a public awareness campaign, “The Faces of Fentanyl,” emphasizing the perils of fentanyl use. The campaign web portal, www.FacesOfFentanyl.net, offers resources, including substance abuse counseling options, that are available to residents countywide.

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