Student allegedly given fentanyl-laced gummy bear at school, deputies investigate

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY — A guardian of a middle school student claims she had to take her nephew to the emergency room after a classmate gave him a fentanyl-laced gummy bear on Tuesday.

She dialed 911 and told Champaign County dispatchers that doctors told her that her nephew unknowingly accepted the gummy bear laced with a synthetic drug from another student.

The guardian also said the school was aware of the incident and contacted her about it, prompting her to rush to the school to take him to get medical attention.

“They were about to call the squad on him, that’s how bad he was. I raced up there to pick him up,” the woman told dispatchers.

The incident allegedly happened at Graham Middle School, and the Champaign County Sheriff’s office confirmed they’ve opened an investigation into what happened.

News Center 7 obtained a copy of a report that indicated an incident at the middle school did result in a juvenile needing emergency attention for an unexplained medical issue.

The superintendent and assistant superintendent of the school district emphasized that they take the safety of every student seriously, and without confirming anything, said they are following their process for incidents like this one.

The guardian took to Facebook to post about the incident.

“This is ridiculous! The state my nephew was in, you could have killed him,” she said in the post.

Parents and grandparents say their concerns are exploding after hearing about what happened.

“Just because opioids and everything are out of control, and if it’s getting into the hands of kids, you know, it’s deadly,” said Michelle Kendall, who lives in St. Paris.

School district leaders said they can’t say much right now, but they are following their established process and gathering information and hope to be able to release more once they have established facts.

We will continue to update this story once we get more details.

Cox Media Group