7 VA Elementary Students Ingest Fentanyl-Tainted Gummies At Lunch

AMHERST, VA — Two people have been charged in connection with an incident in which seven elementary school students in Virginia ate fentanyl-tainted gummy bears at lunch Tuesday, authorities said.

Five of the seven students, all fourth graders from the same class, were taken to the hospital for treatment after experiencing a reaction to the gummy bears, according to the Amherst County Sheriff's Office.

The students were experiencing nausea or were vomiting or lethargic, County Public Safety Director Brad Beam said in a news conference, according to the Associated Press. All of the students returned home safely Tuesday evening.

A school resource officer investigating the scene "observed residue in the baggie that contained the gummies," after which the bag tested positive for fentanyl with a department-issued field test kit, authorities said.

The bag will be sent to the Drug Enforcement Agency for confirmation and further testing, according to authorities.

Officials believe that the bag was contaminated at home or on the way to school, the school's Superintendent William Wells said at a news conference Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

Citing "finding of the preliminary investigation" as the reason, authorities said a search warrant was issued for a home in the 100 block of Pendleton Drive in Amherst County, resulting in the arrest of a man and a woman named Clifford Dugan and Nicole Sanders.

Both Dugan and Sanders have been charged with "Contribute to Delinquency, abuse of a child," authorities said. Dugan was also charged with possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and Sanders was charged with the possession of a Schedule I or II drug.