Seymour Police arrested a man for selling “tainted” drugs in Seymour.
According to police, 34-year-old Michael Purvis is facing several charges of dealing in a controlled substance.
He is being held at the Jackson County Jail.
Purvis was arrested by Seymour Police, and is reportedly connected to several drug overdoses which occurred in Seymour and in Jennings County within the last 24 hours.
Officers used multiple doses of Narcan, (naloxone hydrochloride), a nasal spray used for emergency treatment of opioid overdoses, on several men and women in Seymour last night.
Twelve overdoses were also reported in Jennings County.
It was initially reported that multiple people had died, but only 1 death was confirmed in Jennings County. There were no overdose-related deaths in Seymour.
Seymour Police Department, along with the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, and the Indiana State Police are working to find the source of the items consumed.
Seymour Police Chief Bill Abbott says police believe the people using the heroin due to the drug being laced with powdered carfentanyl, which is a horse tranquilizer.
Abbott says there were 16 overdoses in less than 12 hours. Officers had to use at least two doses of Narcan to get people to respond. In one case, they had to administer four doses.
He says they believe the drugs came out of Cincinnati, which is having similar issues.
Seymour Police say they are working with the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department, and Indiana State Police to find the source of the deadly drugs.
Jennings County deputies also responded to a wave of overdoses that killed one person and left 14 others hospitalized.
Jennings County Sheriff Gary Driver says overdoses sent deputies racing from home to home across the county to administer an anti-overdose drug to victims.
Toxicology tests will be performed on a Jennings County woman who died to determine what substance she consumed.
