Baltimore, Maryland, is reeling from a mass overdose incident that has left at least 27 people hospitalized, with five in critical condition. The incident occurred at the intersection of Pennsylvania and North Avenues around 9:25 a.m. on July 10, 2025, and officials are still finding additional victims, raising concerns that the number of those affected may increase.
Fire Chief James Wallace described the overwhelming scope of the event.
“Our initial responders recognized right away where this was heading and called for a lot of resources well in advance of us discovering the amount of patients that we’ve discovered so far,”
Wallace said.
First responders, guided by community members, discovered unconscious individuals across several locations — subway platforms, alleyways, and behind local businesses.
According to Wallace, seven people were in critical condition, 15 sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries, and the rest were less severely affected. Remarkably, no fatalities have been reported.

Thirteen medical units were dispatched, many making multiple trips to ferry patients to eight hospitals across the city. Emergency teams administered the overdose-reversal drug naloxone (Narcan) on site, saving numerous lives.
“This is a level one mass casualty incident,” Wallace said during a press conference. “Regardless of the nature of the call, the amount of patients scripts how we respond.”
The suspected substance behind this tragedy is a drug called “New Jack City,” which was allegedly distributed as a “tester”—free samples given out by dealers to promote their product. Witnesses at the scene reported to reporters that the substance was laced with freon or antifreeze, both of which are highly poisonous to humans and can lead to severe, life-threatening symptoms.
While officials have not yet confirmed the exact composition of the drug, the presence of such toxic substances highlights the dangerous unpredictability of street drugs in Baltimore.
Reginal Bryant, a longtime outreach worker with the Penn North Wellness and Recovery Center, said he’s never seen anything like it in 29 years of service.
“We just thought it was from the heat,” he said. “Everybody thought they were asleep back there, but everybody was really out. It was like something out of a horror movie.”
Baltimore has long held the grim distinction of having the highest fatal overdose rate in the country — 183.2 deaths per 100,000 people as of mid-2023. Around 87% of those deaths have been linked to fentanyl. However, early data from 2024 showed a 38% statewide decrease in fatal overdoses, with Baltimore’s deaths dropping from 1,043 in 2023 to 680 in 2024. Despite the progress, Thursday’s event underscored how tenuous that decline may be.
Mayor Brandon Scott quickly activated a Coordinated Neighborhood Stabilization Response through the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. Measures included:
- Distribution of Narcan and fentanyl test strips
- Canvassing a four-block radius around the overdose epicenter
- Providing mental health services through the 988 helpline and crisis teams
- Deploying community support teams from Safe Streets, local recovery centers, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Embrace Center
“If you are using today, please do not use alone,”
Urged Sarah Whaley, Executive Director of the city’s Office of Overdose Response.
“Please go slow and have Narcan available.”
Baltimore Police have classified the area as an active crime scene. Deputy Commissioner Kevin Jones confirmed that investigators are working to trace the origins of the drug batch. State’s Attorney Ivan Bates pledged prosecutorial support and reminded the public that Maryland’s Good Samaritan Law protects individuals who seek medical help during an overdose from certain criminal charges.
“This was a terrible day for the Penn North community,”
Said Mayor Scott.
“At least 25 residents suffered overdoses. Countless others were traumatized by what they saw and experienced.”
Even seasoned harm reduction workers described the mass overdose as one of the most severe they’d ever encountered. While Thursday’s coordinated emergency response likely saved lives, the event left a lasting scar on a neighborhood already ravaged by the opioid epidemic.