(From the Pittsburg Police Department)On Friday afternoon April 24, 2026, at approximately 2:51 PM, first responders with the Pittsburg Police Department, Pittsburg Fire Department and Crawford County EMS were dispatched a residence located in the 1100 block of W 4th Street, in Pittsburg in reference to a subject suffering from a suspected drug overdose.
The patient, who was identified as a 32-year-old male, was found to be unconscious and was not breathing. The patient was transported to Pittsburg Mercy Hospital for treatment. Individuals on scene were interviewed by investigators, and the residence was secured while law enforcement officers applied for a warrant to search the residence for illegal narcotics. Once at the hospital, the patient recovered from the suspected overdose and left the hospital against medical advice.
At approximately 4:33 PM, two Crawford County EMS paramedics who were at the scene and treated the patient, began showing signs of an accidental overdose due to a suspected fentanyl exposure. The two EMS paramedics were transported to Pittsburg Mercy Hospital for treatment. One of the paramedics was later transferred to Joplin Mercy Hospital for further treatment.
At approximately 5:13 PM, a Pittsburg Police Department patrol officer began to feel ill and was taken to Pittsburg Mercy Hospital to be evaluated. The patrol officer has since been released from the hospital.
Due to the ongoing threat of exposure to illegal narcotics in the residence, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s Clandestine Laboratory Response Team (CLRT) was requested to assist in the execution of the warrant.
While officers were waiting on the KBI’s response team to arrive, a subject at the residence on W. 4th Street began to interfere with officers on scene. As a result, 50-year-old Justin West was placed under arrest for felony interference with law enforcement.
Mr. West was transported to the jail located at the Crawford County Sheriff’s office for booking and is currently being held without bond.
Mr. West is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation will be taking over the investigation and further information will be released by their agency.
The investigation into this incident is ongoing at this time. Anyone who has information related to this incident, or other crimes, is urged to contact the Pittsburg Police Department at (620) 231-1700, or at our automated tip line, (620) 231-TIPS (8477). The KBI can be contacted at 1-800-KS-CRIME. Tips can also be submitted anonymously online at https://www.kbi.ks.gov/sar. Callers may remain anonymous.
7 comments:
I don’t believe this happened.I believe 3 people panicked.
2:15,4:33,5:13 fentanyl is instant, not hours later…
So if it was just them panicking why don’t you explain how one is intubated due to this and the other is in an icu?
Lots of evil possibilities in Pittsburg.
12:08 maybe they took a sample with them?
Fentanyl is deadly. In tiny quantities. Small amounts in the nasal passages or lips, and saliva can kill others. EMT responders do not sample drugs from their patients.
Those who sell it and traffic in it should be punished with jail time, extensive jail time and not let out on bail to offend again. If you work in a hospital--trust me--you see the deaths and the grieving families every week. Let us join together to eliminate it from our cities.
wait a second, mainstream media told me that fentanyl isn't as deadly as the right is making it sound after saint George Floyd's death. And here you are telling me it's so potent that it can make first responders sick just from being around it?
I don't think so, I will continue to close my eyes, stick my fingers in my ears and think of all the great things George Floyd did for our us.
A recent police encounter with methamphetamine stored with manufacturing equipment in a cooler left this sheriff's detective with severe inhalation injuries. He testified to the Joplin City Council a couple of years ago. The amount of fentanyl on the head of a pin is enough to kill several men and women.
Mr. Floyd had used many drugs that afternoon, including fentanyl, I believe instilled via the rectal route in a prepared solution. The autopsy showed a lethal amount of at least 2 drugs, as I recall. It did not show bruises on the neck, trachea, carotid arteries or veins, or other soft tissues in the neck.
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