Like many Northeast Ohio cities, Wooster has seen an increase in the number of suspected heroin overdoses in recent months. But police say they've never seen anything like the surge that happened Thursday between 3 and 11 p.m.
Crime scene tape still marks the area where one heroin overdose victim was found in a Wooster park.
Police reports show five other overdoses happened in various parts of the city — a seventh reported in nearby Apple Creek.
White powder-- suspected heroin-- was found at some of the spots along with drug paraphernalia.
Wooster police chief Matt Fisher said two of the overdoses left people on life support.
The chief also suspects a batch of heroin, laced with something more potent like fentanyl or carfentanil, infiltrated his town.
"It's a problem everywhere. This is an epidemic like I don't think the country has ever seen before," Fisher said.
Wooster police tracked down a suspect in one of the cases.
Demetrius Frizzell, 30, was booked into the Wayne County Jail on a $50,000 bond. He's charged with possession of drugs, corrupting another with drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Fisher hopes his city takes notice of the rash of overdoses and realizes how dangerous heroin can be.
"Listen, they're somebody's son," said Fisher. "They're somebody's daughter, aunt, niece, nephew. There's people that love them. I would hope a situation where you're brought back from an overdose would be a wake-up call to somebody to say, 'Hey, I need to get help. I need to get treatment.'"
Detectives are continuing to work the streets to see if there any connections between all of the heroin overdoses.
