15-year-old girl overdoses on fentanyl and dies on bathroom floor of high school in Hollywood, 3 other students hospitalized

A high school student overdosed on fentanyl and died on the floor of her high school bathroom, according to police. Another student overdosed but survived.

The incident unfolded on Tuesday evening at the Bernstein High School in Hollywood at about 9 p.m.

The Los Angeles Police Department said in a release that officers responded to a call from a stepparent who reported finding his stepdaughter after she had overdosed.

While his stepdaughter was still responsive, she told the stepparent that her friend had also overdosed in the school bathroom.

“The parent found a school employee, entered the women’s restroom, and found an apparent overdose victim who was unresponsive,” the LAPD said. “The parent administered aid as directed by 9-1-1. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the scene and determined the victim (was) deceased.”

Investigators said the girls had purchased pills at Lexington Park they believed wto be Percocet, or oxycodone, but they were laced with fentanyl.

Police said there were two other overdose incidents reported near Lexington Park.

“It is believed that the overdose victims are students of Bernstein and local high schools,” the LAPD said.

LAUSD Supt. Alberto Carvalho visited the families of students to console them on Wednesday and released a statement about the incident.

“This is a scourge and an epidemic that is going on across the country,” Carvalho said. “It is unacceptable, but it is even more unacceptable when it impacts the youth of our community. There is no excuse for that nor is there tolerance for that.”

He said Lexington Park had been closed and that police were close to identifying the person who sold the pills.

Deaths from fentanyl overdoses have soared in California among 15 to 19-year-olds since 2012, according to the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard. There were 4,009 overall deaths in California related to fentanyl in 2020, during the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's a local news report about the incident:

Several L.A. high school students overdose, 1 dieswww.youtube.com