Akron police are continuing to investigate a rash of drug overdoses.
Calls to police and paramedics began to come in at 1 p.m. Tuesday and as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, 20 overdoses had been reported. Three of those were fatal, according to Akron police spokesman Lt. Rick Edwards.
During a news conference on Wednesday, Akron Police Chief James Nice said police suspect that the overdoses are related to heroin and Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that experts say is similar to heroin but up to 50 times more potent.
Police are also investigating whether overdoses in Cuyahoga Falls, Barberton, Stow, Tallmadge and Portage County’s Brimfield Township are related to the cases in Akron.