Kyle PD sees increase in deaths and ODs in teens and adults

Staff Report

HAYS COUNTY —  A 15-year-old Hays CISD high school sophomore died from a suspected fentanyl overdose in San Marcos on Saturday, Aug. 20 — this is the third suspected fentanyl overdose death involving a Hays CISD student in the past month.

In late July and early August, two 17-year-old students in two separate incidents died in Kyle at their houses, according to a Hays CISD news release. The three students who died attended, or would have attended, Johnson and Lehman High School.

Since last May, all three Hays CISD comprehensive high schools (Hays, Johnson, and Lehman) have been affected by students who experienced life-threatening fentanyl overdoses, both on campus and at home, that did not result in death.

Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett has been leading the call to bring attention to the increase in fentanyl-related deaths and overdoses. Kyle PD and Hays CISD alerted parents to fentanyl dangers last week, on the eve of the start of this school year. In a Kyle PD Facebook post, shared by Hays CISD and included in a back to school email sent to all parents, Chief Barnett showed photographs of one type of counterfeit pill believed to have caused many of the recent fentanyl emergencies in the Kyle area.

“Kyle PD has responded to at least 16 related overdoses with 7 of those resulting in death in 2022. Many of these overdoses, including some deaths, are teenagers ranging from 14-18 years old. Parents – please talk to your children about the dangers of taking any pills that are not prescribed to them by a doctor,” said Chief Barnett in the Facebook post.

Quite often, in cases involving fentanyl, people who take the drug have no idea they are taking it, according to the press release. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is often the ingredient used in counterfeit pills purchased on the street – sold as something else like Xanax, Percocet, or oxycodone. In the drug trade, fentanyl is a cheap alternative to other synthetic opioids and it takes very little to kill.

Hays CISD Superintendent Eric Wright sent an email to parents, following the announcement of the district’s third student who is believed to have died from a fentanyl overdose.

“I’m worried. We take all safety and security issues very seriously, but this one is especially concerning,” Wright said. “So far – and I am deeply grateful – we haven’t lost a single student to COVID or gun violence on our campuses. Both of these issues have rightfully been pressing matters the past couple of years. We must treat the fentanyl crisis with the same urgency.”