‘If this is your business, we don’t want you here’: Two officers stay overnight in hospital after fentanyl exposure

FITZGERALD, Ga. (WALB) - Two Fitzgerald Police Department (FPD) officers spent the night in the hospital after officials said they were exposed to fentanyl.

A third officer was also treated for the exposure, but was released the same day.

City officials said the officers were exposed simply by breathing in air while responding to two separate possible overdose calls Wednesday.

According to an alert sent out to residents in Ben Hill county, law enforcement believes a delivery of drugs that have a high dosage of fentanyl mixed in made its way into city and county limits.

Now leaders are urging anyone who recently purchased crack, methamphetamine, or other illegal drugs to throw them out.

“Illegal drugs have ripped apart way too many families, and have taken way too many lives,” Mayor Jason Holt of Fitzgerald, said. “So if this is your business, we don’t want you here. Please go somewhere else. We’re concerned about our community and our citizens.”

This incident highlights the importance of having Narcan, which is a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, readily available.

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