By Chevall Pryce, Todd Karpovich
Baltimore Sun
(TNS)
At least 25 people were hospitalized Thursday after experiencing what officials in Baltimore鈥檚 Penn North neighborhood.
There were no fatalities, Baltimore Fire Department spokesman John Marsh said late Thursday afternoon.
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鈥淭his is a level-one mass casualty incident,鈥� Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace said during a news conference earlier. 鈥淥ur initial responders recognized right away where this was heading and called for a lot of resources.鈥�
In a statement Thursday evening, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott 鈥檚 office said the event remained under investigation and that officials had not yet confirmed what caused the overdoses.
鈥淭he site remains an active emergency response scene. [ The Baltimore Police Department ] continues to investigate the scene and surrounding neighborhoods, focusing on the source of the overdose event. BPD reminds individuals that under Good Samaritan laws, they can seek medical care without fear of arrest.鈥�
Baltimore Police said on the around 11:30 a.m. that officers, fire crews and several ambulances responded to the intersection of Pennsylvania and North avenues. The Baltimore City Fire Department deployed at least 13 medic units to the scene.
First responders found three of the victims behind a CVS at 9:30 a.m., then located other victims in the surrounding streets and alleys. As medics assisted them, more suspected overdoses happened outside of Penn Station and the Enoch Pratt Free Library.
As paramedics, members of the Baltimore Health Department, Charm City Care connections and other local groups tended to the sick on Penn Avenue, additional victims were identified.
鈥淚t was one, five, six, seven and it was all in this area,鈥� Marsh, the fire department spokesman, said, describing how the incident quickly escalated into multiple victims.
Keith Bailey, president of the Fulton Heights Community Association, told The Baltimore Sun he witnessed people overdosing in Penn North on Thursday morning. He said he wants to see action taken to 鈥渟top this drug epidemic because it鈥檚 killing people.鈥�
鈥淧eople have come up the street just collapsing, just passing out,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淲hatever it is, whatever they鈥檙e putting in these drugs, it鈥檚 killing these people, and something has to be done.鈥�
Lisa Wilson, CEO of MD Counseling Services and a licensed social worker, came to Penn North to help first responders treat people suffering from overdoses.
鈥淲e鈥檙e actually in collaboration now to set up a 24-hour station to make sure that we can support them as the need arises, because the police and EMS can鈥檛 do it all by themselves,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the reason why we have agencies that have extended themselves and educated themselves to provide that peer recovery support for substance abuse and addiction.鈥�
The Rev. Rodney Hudson, is pastor of Ames United Methodist Church, which is three blocks from the intersection where people fell ill. Hudson said he was in the church when he got a call telling him 鈥減eople were falling all over the place鈥� and urging him to go help.
When he arrived, Hudson said he saw at least half a dozen people 鈥渙ut cold鈥� along North Avenue, in such bad shape he couldn鈥檛 tell if they were alive or dead.
Workers from nearby Penn North Recovery Center were already on the scene, Hudson said, joined by emergency medical personnel from the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Delivering Narcan and prayers
The Penn North workers and the city鈥檚 Health Department were distributing Narcan, an opioid antagonist used to reverse the effects of an overdose. The nearby Enoch Pratt Free Library was being used as a hub to hand out the life-saving drug.
The Baltimore City Police and Fire departments did not respond to requests for information on how often they administer Narcan (generic name naloxone) in response to overdoses in Baltimore. However, data from Open Baltimore shows that the 21217 ZIP code, which encompasses the Penn North neighborhood was by far the leader from 2022 to 2024.
During that time, Baltimore City fire personnel administered naloxone subsequent to an overdose 1,149 times.
In total, the city鈥檚 firefighters administered naloxone 7,699 times in response to overdoses across 28 Baltimore ZIP codes, data shows, with administration spiking in the spring and summer months.
Hudson said he knows from experience that it helps to call out an overdosed person鈥檚 name to secure his attention, and that several came to when he did. He also offered prayers over them, and he credited Penn North for averting an even bigger disaster.
鈥淚f it weren鈥檛 for Penn North, a lot of people would be dead,鈥� he said.
While some victims were able to be helped without further medical intervention, others were hospitalized immediately, with paramedics stepping in for overdose intervention volunteers and taking them to the nearest hospital.
鈥淥ur team is coordinating with state agencies, city officials, and first responders on the ground in West Baltimore today,鈥� Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said on X. 鈥淚鈥檓 grateful to those who quickly alerted us about this situation, and those who are providing support to the community.鈥�
Treyway Multi-Treatment Services on Falls Road was asked to come out and aid in helping people get signed up for treatment and residential services in the Baltimore area.
鈥淲e are just like everyone here affected by the different climates, the financial climate, the political climate. A lot of people are looking for ease in the wrong kinds of way, and it鈥檚 going to cause things like this,鈥� said Mark Daniels, a Treyway official. 鈥淵ou see fentanyl. It鈥檚 been an epidemic for generations, but only now we see an uptake in its effects, and we鈥檙e out here helping to mitigate the problems and residential problems community members have with this influx of drugs.鈥�
Concerns about a 鈥榖ad batch鈥�
Hudson said it鈥檚 common in the neighborhood for dealers to hold 鈥渢esters鈥� 鈥� events at which they offer samples of their product to boost sales 鈥� and they tend to draw big crowds because the samples are free.
鈥淭his was some kind of bad batch,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never heard of anything this bad. But it was only a matter of time before it happened.鈥�
Multiple streets in the area were closed, and buses were rerouted as first responders worked to assist those affected. The Penn North Metro station also was closed, with trains routed to bypass the station, . It was expected to reopen in the morning.
The Penn North subway station is bounded to the east by Etting Cemetery , the oldest Jewish cemetery in Baltimore and to the north by the CVS that burned during the riots following .
Across Cumberland Street stands the Arch Social Club, women in dresses decorating the arch for which it is famed, and a , in full-throated song.
Although Cumberland Street, which runs northeast to southwest past Penn-North, features patches of small businesses interspersed with empty storefronts, the streets turn largely residential to the east and west.
Reginal Bryant, with the Penn North Wellness and Recovery Center, said he had never seen anything like the rapid overdoses in his 29 years of working near substance abuse on Pennsylvania Avenue.
鈥淲e have a harm reduction team, and they came and told us it looked like something was going on 鈥� like people just falling out,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e just thought it was from the heat. When they went behind the CVS, everybody thought they were asleep back there, but everybody was really out. It was like something out of a horror movie.鈥�
Although the incident was unusual for the intersection, Bryant said he helps with four to five overdoses a day and expects that pattern to resume.
Joyous Jones, an elder at Simmons Memorial Baptist Church, said her church provides support for people struggling with addiction, including Narcotics Anonymous meetings. She said the church was looking for a couple of its members to make sure they鈥檙e OK following news of the overdoses.
鈥淚鈥檓 praying they will find them and they will be well,鈥� Jones said.
Thursday鈥檚 suspected overdoses came days after city officials rolled out the Baltimore mayor鈥檚 plan to use hundreds of millions of dollars from settlements to tackle the city鈥檚 opioid crisis.
The strategic plan aims to reduce opioid overdoses by 40% by 2040 by outlining five specific priorities: Social determinants of health, prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery.
鈥淧eople only take advantage of people in areas where they believe there鈥檚 disinvestment,鈥� said Baltimore City Councilman James Torrence, who represents the 7th district that includes Penn North.
鈥淚t鈥檚 more than just a clean-up-the-area. It鈥檚 a culture change as well, for people to think that they can still get drugs at that corner,鈥� Torrence said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had multiple federal indictments where they鈥檝e gone days or weeks without any drug dealing at that corner. But now people have come back.鈥�
In a statement Thursday, Baltimore State鈥檚 Attorney Ivan Bates said he commended the first responders and hoped for the swift recovery of victims. He also said 鈥減rosecutors from [his] office have been in contact with and are ready to assist their counterparts at BPD.鈥�
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