Four die in South Lake Tahoe home, drug overdose is suspected

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Four people died this morning in South Lake Tahoe in a home on Roger Avenue. The victims, three men and one woman, are estimated to be in their 30s or 40s.

According to South Lake Tahoe Police Department Lt. Jeff Roberson, no cause of death can be determined at this time. Drugs are suspected to be involved, but the cause of death has not been confirmed.

Multiple agencies are at the scene and will be there for much of the day. El Dorado County Sheriff's coroners and drug task force are on their way to join the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) at the home. South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue and JPA ambulances were also at the scene this morning.

At 9:11 a.m., SLTPD Dispatch received an emergency 911 call from someone inside the home. Upon emergency crews' arrival, CPR was in already progress on one or more of the victims. They continued CPR and administered Narcan (naloxone), the opioid overdose reversal treatment.

Two other people were in the house and they are cooperating with the investigation.

This is a developing story and more will be updated as more information is made available.

Lt. Roberson wants to warn the community that, if this turns out to be fentanyl, more drugs can currently be on the streets with lethal amounts of the synthetic opioid in them. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine and is a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the U.S.

Even though fentanyl has not been confirmed as the cause of death in South Lake Tahoe Monday, it can be found in many places and is commonly mixed with drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine and made into pills that are made to resemble legal prescription opioids.

Naloxone, which is distributed under the name of Narcan, is available in South Lake Tahoe for free, no questions asked at Barton Hospital's emergency room, their Stateline clinic, and at the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless.

If you have any information about this incident, please email cybertips@cityofslt.us.