Two killed in NY apartment by 'unknown substance' that gave reaction consistent with 'tranq'

Two were killed in an Upstate New York apartment building by an 'unknown substance' that is consistent with 'tranq' overdoses and has landed three cops, a firefighter, and an EMT in the hospital after exposure. 

A neighbor on the sixth floor of Brighton Tower 1 in Syracuse called 911 around 10.15am on Wednesday that someone may have died inside the apartment. When emergency personnel arrived to the apartment, they found two deceased and one 'critically ill,' the Syracuse Fire Department said in a press release. 

While authorities waited for the medical examiner to arrive on scene, police officers began to feel ill within 30 minutes of exposure, citing nausea and accelerated heart rates - both, of which, are symptoms of a tranq overdoses. 

Authorities have not announced what drug the officers came in contact with, but admitted it was 'inconsistent with fentanyl overdoses,' and acknowledged that tranq overdoses have been increasing in the community. The drug samples taken at the scene are still currently being tested. 

Mayor Ben Walsh said 'it appears that it was through contact, so those that have fell ill, it appears [to have been] in direct contact with the substance.' 

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A neighbor on the sixth floor of Brighton Tower 1 called 911 around 10.15am that someone may have died inside the apartment. When emergency personnel arrived to the apartment, they found two deceased and one 'critically ill' 

While authorities waited for the medical examiner to arrive on scene, police officers began to feel ill within 30 minutes of exposure, citing nausea and accelerated heart rates - both, of which, are symptoms of a tranq overdoses. Authorities have not announced what drug the officers came in contact with, as it is still being tested 

'It quickly became apparent that this was potentially a hazardous scene, and some unknown contaminant was possibly responsible for the illness,' the press release said. 'The investigation continues into what caused the deaths and symptoms.' 

A HAZMAT team was called to the scene to take samples to identify the drug, while three officers and one firefighter were treated on scene for the mysterious illness. They were later transported to Upstate University Hospital and have since been released. 

However, while at the hospital, while the four were being 'decontaminated,' 'several hospital personnel also began feeling ill,' the fire department said. 

Upon this realization, the ER was shut down for more than two hours to 'manage the patients and prevent further exposures.' A total of nine exposures were reported. 

Xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer approved in the US for cows and horses, is now flooding the illicit US drug market, with drug dealers cutting everything from cocaine to heroin with the powerful sedative. It was brought up during the press conference as a possible culprit.

Mayor Ben Walsh (pictured) said 'it appears that it was through contact, so those that have fell ill, it appears [to have been] in direct contact with the substance' 

Additional firefighters were called to the scene and the sixth floor was evacuated as 'firefighters were unable to definitively identify a specific hazard.' 

After monitoring the air, sixth floor residents were allowed to return to their homes before 6pm, the fire department said. 

The scene is being treated as a homicide as drug distributors can be charged with the overdoses, according to Syracuse.com. 

'We know that fentanyl and xylazine [tranq] are getting dozens of our community sick,' Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon said. 

The streets of America are being flooded by a new terrifying drug that turns patients into zombies and leaves them with gaping sores.

Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon (pictured) said he is aware that fentanyl and tranq overdoses in the county 

Residents were evacuated from the sixth floor after the emergency personnel fell ill, but have since returned. While at the hospital, the ER had to be shut down after several others became ill from exposure while the three officers and one firefighter were decontaminating

Xylazine (aka, 'tranq') is most often used to cut fentanyl, the lethally potent synthetic opioid that already kills tens of thousands of Americans every year. 

Philadelphia is at the epicenter, with Xylazine now linked to a third of all overdose deaths there — from two percent in 2015. For Rhode Island — another hotspot — it is now showing up in 40 percent of samples tested.

Patients suffer damage to their blood vessels that leads to gaping wounds appearing on their bodies. Some are left unable to walk, or need amputations because the wounds are so severe, cutting right down to the bone.