Latest news with #WJZ-TV
UPI
3 days ago
- Health
- UPI
Five hospitalized in another mass drug overdose incident in Baltimore
Baltimore police and fire personnel respond to a mass casualty overdose incident in West Baltimore on July 10. Another overdose incident was reported Friday in the same area. Photo courtesy of Baltimore Police Department/X July 19 (UPI) -- Five people in Baltimore were hospitalized for a reported mass overdose incident, one week after 27 were sickened in the same area of the city because of a "bad batch" of drugs, police said. The victims Friday were in serious condition, Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said at a news conference, including addition to two who refused treatment after first responders deployed Narcan. The 911 calls started coming just before 9 a.m. Friday and not from a concentrated area as last week, police said. Both incidents are in the historic Penn North neighborhood of West Baltimore. "People have already heard what is out here and yet they still gotta go get it because their body is calling for it," one man who goes by the nickname 'Slim Rob' told WJZ-TV. "It's heartbreaking, man. It's heartbreaking. You got people's mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles, grandparents out here -- and the kids need them and yet they need that when you can be gone like this." On July 10, people were hospitalized in the incident in West Baltimore, which law enforcement officers and community advocates called a "bad batch of drugs." BPD & @BaltimoreFire are on scene at the intersection of Pennsylvania & North Avenues in reference to multiple individuals experiencing overdose symptoms. More information to follow as it becomes available. Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) July 10, 2025 "We understand that the supply across the city is very volatile right now," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "If you see someone who may be overdosing, help them. If you have Narcan, administer it. Call 911. Don't walk past anyone who may be experiencing an overdose. "You can literally save their life by stepping in. That person is a human, that person is a Baltimorean." Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the incidents are being investigated separately. "We also have numerous officers working the area having to locate who the buyers were, who the sellers were and mainly who is bringing the drugs into the area," Worley said. Five people were arrested three days later on July 13 in the area on a charge of drug possession with intent to distribute. It's unclear if the arrested were linked to the mass overdose, according to Baltimore police. "I understand the frustration," Scott said about Penn North residents, who felt their concerns have been ignored. "We're talking about a neighborhood ... that has been so disinvested in for so long. We're not going to change that overnight." Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology who examined substances from last week said they contained fentanyl, a powerful painkiller; methylclonazepam, which has sedative effects; Mannitol, a diuretic; quinine, an anti-malaria drug; and caffeine. Narcan, which is the brand name of naloxone, and fentanyl strips were distributed to the affected neighborhood last week. "Today's incident is a painful reminder that our work is far from over," Scott said. In Baltimore, opioid overdose deaths reached a high of 1,006 in 2021 and dropped to 895 in 2022 before going back up to 952 in 2023. Last year, there were 698 opioid overdose-related deaths in the city, according to state data. "People fade away -- they've got agendas, other things to do," Vincent Timmons, an outreach specialist at Tuerk House, told the Baltimore Banner. "People don't remember that area. They're used to that."
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Maryland Democrat says he was denied access to Abrego Garcia in El Salvador
WASHINGTON - Maryland Democrat Rep. Glenn Ivey said he was denied access to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia during a recent trip to El Salvador. Abrego Garcia, a union sheet metal worker and father of three from Maryland, was wrongly deported to the Central American country in March. He was taken to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, before being transferred to a facility with better conditions in April. Ivey, who flew to El Salvador on May 23, told WJZ-TV in an interview that the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador had informed the Salvadoran government of his visit, but he was denied access to see Abrego Garcia. In April, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, also a Maryland Democrat, traveled to El Salvador and met with Abrego Garcia. And four House Democrats took a trip in April to El Salvador and were briefed by the U.S. embassy on his case. In a video clip shared on X on May 27, Ivey said he was told he needed a permit. 'They knew we were coming, they knew why we were coming, and they know we have the right to do this. So, they need to just cut the crap, let us get in there and have a chance to see him and talk with him,' Ivey said. In response to Ivey's post, the Department of Homeland Security posted, "While the mainstream media and politicians are fighting to bring a foreign terrorist and gang member back to U.S. soil, @POTUS Trump and @Sec_Noem are fighting for the victims of alien crime and putting the safety of Americans FIRST." The Trump administration insists Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, but a federal judge has questioned the strength of the government's evidence. Abrego Garcia denies being a gang member and has no criminal convictions. The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" the release of Abrego Garcia, but the Justice Department has argued it does not have the authority to return him to the United States because he is in a foreign country. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland said during a hearing on May 16 that the Justice Department had not made a 'good faith' effort to comply with her request to provide information on what the government was doing to bring Abrego Garcia back to the United States. Contributing: Nick Penzenstadler and Eduardo Cuevas This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maryland Democrat says he was denied access to meet Abrego Garcia
