WASHINGTON — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired in November 2021.
The Metropolitan Police Department tweeted Sunday that the department has responded to seven medical emergencies that resulted in four deaths in a 24 hour period.
A spokesperson for D.C. Police confirmed to WUSA9 that all of the cases were suspected narcotics overdoses but could not say if the drug fentanyl was the cause behind them.
Police were dispatched to the following areas:
- 19th Street and Benning Road Northeast;
- 1300 block of New York Ave Northeast;
- 1100 block of Raum Street Northeast;
- 1200 block of Meigs Place Northeast (there were two patients at this address);
- Fenwick Street and West Virginia Avenue Northeast; and
- 1700 Montello Avenue Northeast.
These locations are all within a mile radius of one another, in the Trinidad and Ivy City neighborhoods. Police did not say if the overdoses are connected.
These most recent overdose deaths are reminiscent of another string of overdose deaths reported in D.C. this year.
On Jan. 28, MPD reported 14 overdoses resulting in nine deaths. The January overdoses were clustered in a Southwest Waterfront neighborhood.
A joint investigation by MPD, the DEA and the FBI determined that a mixture of Fentanyl and cocaine caused those deaths.
Two people — 43-year-old Sheldon Marbley and 23-year-old Shameka Hayes — were arrested and are facing drug charges in those cases.
If you or someone you know is experiencing an overdose, call 911 immediately. For information on how to get a free Naloxone kit, text "Live Long DC" to 888111.