2 Counselors Fatally OD at Facility for Recovering Addicts

"If anybody is wondering how bad the opioid epidemic has become, this case is a frightening example," said Chester County DA Tom Hogan after two drug counselors fatally overdosed at a Pennsylvania facility for recovering addicts. Residents at the Freedom Ridge Recovery Lodge found the counselors, who lived at the facility, unresponsive in their bedrooms Sunday afternoon, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. They were pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. Authorities found needles and baggies in their rooms, as well as what is believed to be fentanyl-laced heroin.

The residential facility in West Brandywine Township houses six recovering addicts. In Sunday's incident, "the staff members in charge of supervising recovering addicts succumbed to their own addiction and died of opioid overdoses," Hogan said in a statement, per the Allentown Morning Call. "Opioids are a monster that is slowly consuming our population." Investigators say the baggies found in the counselors' rooms were marked with the "Superman" and "Danger/Skull & Crossbones" logos, CNN reports. Drug users have been strongly advised to steer clear of those two brands. (The opioid epidemic has also killed dozens of curious toddlers.)