Grosse Pointe Woods residents livid over lack of info after fentanyl-laced cocaine deaths
GROSSE POINTE WOODS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Concerned Grosse Pointe Woods residents grilled city officials on Monday night, demanding more information after the deadly overdoses of three people in their 20s.
The deaths are linked to cocaine laced with fentanyl or Xylazine according to sources.
"Our small community has experienced terrible losses in the last several months - apparently to accidental drug overdoses," said one resident during the town hall. "I say apparently because I don’t think there’s been enough communication to the residents about what happened."
Two of the victims were sisters. What’s more, two other people who that first group knew, also died from overdoses in neighboring towns not long before that.
"The last thing I would ever want to do is encroach upon the grieving families and or disrupt whatever investigation is taking place," said the resident. "But there must be some sort of middle ground where concerned residents, particularly parents can be informed of this serious threat in our community."
FOX 2 brought that question to Mayor Arthur Bryant in a 1-on-1 interview. His response calling for patience might surprise you.
"FOX 2: "We were talking to some community members. They say they had frustrations from police. They say police haven’t said enough and sooner about what happened here."
"Well I don’t agree with that because I’m one of those people that says, hey sit back, let the police do their work, and they'll tell you," said Bryant. "I mean there’s no reason why you or I need to know right now. They are working on it and we just have to wait and see when they’re ready to release the information."
FOX 2: "I think a lot of parents. They say they’d like to know because they don’t know what else is out there, what their kids might be into also so that’s where a lot of the concerns come from."
"I’m asking them to just sit back, wait for the information to come available," said Mayor Bryant.
Related: 3 fatal overdoses in Grosse Pointe Woods reported from fentanyl-laced cocaine
Investigators say two weekends ago, someone called 911 about an overdose at a home, before calling back to report two more possible overdoses two blocks over off of Canterbury Road.
It’s believed a bad batch of cocaine had been circulating on the area.
The community continues to live on edge with each passing day.
"Hundreds of kids have just graduated from high school. Summer is fast approaching. There are parties and gatherings galore," said the resident. "I know that we all want to protect our kids and one way to do that is to give parents and guardians the tools and information they need to have honest direct factual conversations with their kids."
FOX 2 contacted the police administration for information on the case, but have not heard back.
