1 dead, 6 hospitalized after suspected drug overdose at downtown Los Angeles jail

A suspected drug overdose at a downtown Los Angeles jail left one man dead and another six hospitalized while hazardous materials investigators were called in to decontaminate the area Tuesday morning.

Deputies at the Inmate Reception Center of the Men's Central Jail in Chinatown saw some inmates experiencing some sort of "medical distress" inside one of the cells at 8:37 a.m. and called paramedics, according to LA County Sheriff's Sgt. Michael Modica.

"It actually was eight inmates that were suffering in the same cell at the same time," Modica, describing the men as between the ages of 18 to 68. 

Firefighters received the call at 8:40 a.m. and tried reviving a 32-year-old man who was unconscious, performing CPR, carrying out EKG tests and administering Narcan to him, according to Erik Scott, spokesman for the LA Fire Department. "They did everything they could to try to revive that individual," Scott said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene while the other seven inmates were rushed to two hospitals in the area, authorities said.

Modica said the man's cause of death remains under investigation and so does the cause behind the hospitalization of the other inmates. When deputies made the 911 call, they described it as a suspected drug overdose, Scott said. However, the LA County Medical Examiner will have to determine a cause of death along with other further investigation, authorities said. 

Hazmat teams were decontaminating the scene, carrying out air monitoring and swabbing clothing and other areas to ensure there were no harmful contaminants left, according to Scott. Inmates had to remove their outer clothing while they were sprayed with a hose "from top to bottom," Scott said.

"So we had to carefully decontaminate those individuals," he said.

In addition to the hazmat investigators, 40 firefighters and eight ambulances arrived to the scene as they braced for a possible "mass casualty" incident given the number of people involved, Scott said.

According to the LA County Sheriff's Department, Narcan, a life-saving medication used to counteract the effects of the an opioid overdose, has been used on 195 people within the county's correctional and jail facilities over the past year. There were 12 overdose deaths in 2023, sheriff's officials said.