Austin, Texas, hit by opioid outbreak leaving at least 9 dead and 75 overdoses in 3 days

Over the last few days, city and county officials are responding to what appears to be “the largest opioid overdose outbreak” in Austin and Travis County, Travis County Judge Andy Brown said at a news conference.

Austin Police Department Assistant Chief Eric Fitzgerald said police officers and emergency personnel reduced an untold number of deaths, saying, “there is a deadly batch of illicit narcotics in our community. Our intent … is to find those persons responsible and hold them accountable.”

Lt. Patrick Eastlick with the APD’s narcotics unit said two persons of interest were detained and one was arrested for felony possession of a firearm. An investigation is ongoing into the source of where the drugs came from. “Anyone found responsible for distributing the suspected fentanyl faces potential charges of murder or manufactured delivery of controlled substance causing death or serious bodily injury,” he said.

Last year, the Texas legislature passed a bill that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law changing state law to classify fentanyl poisoning as murder, require death certificates to state cause of death related to fentanyl poisonings, expand distribution of Narcan, among other measures.

So far, the APD has filed five charges related to fentanyl overdose deaths, Eastlick said.

Austin-Travis County EMS Assistant Chief Steve White said emergency personnel initially responded to calls in the downtown area Monday morning, which later spread throughout the city. Emergency teams were deployed to quickly distribute Narcan rescue kits.

Within a 24-hour period, they responded to over 51 suspected overdoses with many individuals in cardiac arrest. Four people were first reported dead.

“We have not experienced overdoses of this volume since 2015, when K2 struck our community," White said, referring to synthetic marijuana. EMS usually gets an average of two to three calls a day, but responded to over 50 calls after the outbreak began, “well over a thousand percent increase.”

In a separate press announcement, Dr. Angela Carr with Travis County EMS said as of 6 pm on Thursday, Austin Travis County EMS had responded to 75 suspected overdoses. So far, more than 400 doses of Narcan have been distributed to affected areas.

Brown said they had to wait until the toxicology reports were completed but they were investigating “eight deaths as suspicious.”

The current death total is nine, according to a county spokesperson. “Preliminary toxicology reports indicated the presence of fentanyl in nine cases, cocaine in eight and methamphetamine in three, the American-Statesman reported.

Brown said emergency personnel saved dozens of lives by administering Narcan, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses if administered quickly enough. Information about where Texans can obtain Narcan can be found here and at Txcope.org.

“Drug overdose deaths continue to be the number one cause of non-accidental deaths in Travis County,” Brown said. In 2022, Travis County commissioners declared the county’s overdose epidemic as a public health crisis.

In March, White spoke at an Austin City Council meeting on public safety saying, “Travis County now has twice as many opiate overdose deaths than any other county in Texas, per capita.” He explained the scope of the “severe increase” in opioid overdoses, saying they averaged roughly 100 a month at the time.

Last year, while the legislature was in session, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers seized half a million lethal doses of fentanyl in Austin, The Center Square reported. They also seized other narcotics, weapons, ammunition, and several stolen vehicles in a bust that was part of a DPS Austin Violent Crimes Task Force operation assisting the APD.

Violent crime and fentanyl overdoses have increased in the state capital since the Austin City Council voted to defund the APD in 2020. Efforts by voters to increase APD funding and reverse the city council’s actions failed in 2021. After losing a significant number of APD’s force, the number of homicides in Austin spiked, APD was no longer able to respond quickly to 911 calls, street takeovers got out of control, a machete crime spree ensued among other violent crimes being reported.

In response, Gov. Abbott took action, creating task forces and surging additional resources, including directing DPS troopers to provide long-term assistance to APD. He also worked with the Texas legislature to implement measures to prevent municipalities from defunding the police in the future, The Center Square reported.

“Overdose deaths are completely preventable and everyone in Travis County should be aware and prepared to respond to an overdose incident,” Brown said. “Everyone should carry Narcan and know how to respond to an overdose. I carry a dose of it in my computer bag.”