Alabama teenager, 16, dies after coming into contact with 'painkiller laced with fentanyl'

One student died and three were hospitalized while at high school in Alabama - most likely after coming into contact with fentanyl.

Authorities were called to Selma High School around midday on Tuesday after the students became sick.

The student that died was a 16-year-old sophomore who went unconscious in the cafeteria, where he was then administered Narcan, one parent at the school told WSFA12. After being taken to hospital he was pronounced dead.

One of the four students has since been released, while as of Wednesday evening the other two remained in hospital. Their conditions are unknown.

Black wreaths were put up on the front doors of Selma High School in Alabama on Tuesday in honor of a 16-year-old sophomore that passed away

Four students attending the high school were hospitalized after they became sick during school hours on Tuesday 

The identity of the student that died is not public, but Selma mayor James Perkins Jr said that he was close to his family and 'considered him a son'.

'Because the deceased is a juvenile, I will not mention him by name. Just know that his death is very close to me,' Perkins said in a written statement. 

'Today, the investigation continues to determine exactly what took place at Selma High School,' he added. 

'Upon arrival, EMT administered CPR then transported the child to Vaughan Hospital where he was pronounced deceased,' said Selma Police Department Captain Natasha Fowlkes to CBS8.

Fowlkes would not confirm that the death was caused by fentanyl. 

'It's undetermined at the time, the cause of death, pending a toxicology report from the Department of Forensic Sciences,' she said.

Mayor of Selma James Perkins Jr (pictured) said he knew the boy that passed away and 'considered him a son'

Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson said investigators were awaiting results from autopsy and toxicology tests before making a final determination, but the powerful painkiller likely was to blame.

Dallas County DA said that although toxicology reports are still due the death was likely caused by fentanyl

'It doesn't take much to kill you,' he said.

School Superintendent Zickeyous Byrd said students who decided not to attend classes on Wednesday wouldn't be counted as absent.

'When an event of this magnitude touches one family, it affects us all,' Byrd said in a statement.

School officials said that only about 11 percent of students attended school on Thursday.

Just last week local drug awareness group Drug Free Communities of Dallas County hosted an event at Selma High School to address the recent prevalence of fentanyl.

'We had an event just the Friday prior, we're always in the schools having workshops,' said the group's director Jerria Martin.

Her group published a video a day before the incident with Selma High School counselor Tara Burks, encouraging students to 'be drug free' and avoid fentanyl.

'This is not a Selma issue, this is a national issue,' said Martin.

Martin did not address exactly how the Selma High School students were hospitalized but said that fentanyl is being marketed to children in alarming ways.

'The market puts out this stuff that looks like candy and people need to know how dangerous fentanyl can be. You never know where it's present.' 

Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are driving the nation's deadliest overdose crisis ever.

Just last week local drug awareness group Drug Free Communities of Dallas County hosted an event at Selma High School to address the recent prevalence of fentanyl

Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the US. Of the almost 108,000 deaths in the country in 2021, 66 percent were related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, CDC data shows.

Fatal overdoses are also on the rise. In 2021 they increased by nearly 15% from around 94,000 deaths estimated in 2020.

Just last month in New York around 300,000 rainbow fentanyl pills and 22 pounds of the drug in powdered form were seized from an apartment in the Bronx - the largest fentanyl bust in history.

The DEA said at the time that the rainbow colored fentanyl pills are part of a marketing scheme by Mexican drug cartels to drive addiction among kids and young adults. 

The DEA have claimed the rainbow colored fentanyl pills are part of a marketing scheme by Mexican drug cartels to drive addiction among kids and young adults

The fentanyl seized by the DEA Task Force last month in the Bronx - 300,000 rainbow pills and 22lbs in powdered form