Video shows private security guards administering Narcan in downtown Austin

Brianna Hollis
·3 min read

Editor’s Note: The videos in this article show private security guards administering Narcan in downtown Austin. The video contains sensitive material. Viewer discretion is advised.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The private security company hired by a group of downtown Austin businesses to patrol a portion of Sixth Street said guards helped administer Narcan this week amid a spike of overdoses.

Overdose surge: 2 detained after 70+ overdoses, multiple deaths in Austin

As of Wednesday, Austin-Travis County EMS said it responded to about 70 suspected overdoses. As of Thursday afternoon, nine people died.

“An increase in overdoses and more and more cases of member of the public just coming and flagging us down and asking for help,” said John Cade with Nxt Lvl Security, the firm hired to work downtown.

Security guards administered 23 doses of Narcan between 16 people. On a normal week, the downtown team helps 1-5 people, according to the security company.

ATCEMS said it’s grateful groups like private security guards carry Narcan, and the agency said on several occasions – because someone else administered Narcan – patients are already starting to wake up by the time medics get there. However, ATCEMS also said many overdose cases require more than one dose of Narcan, so medics often also deliver subsequent rounds.

PREVIOUS: Austin police investigate suspected overdoses that left 8 dead

“With this surge, they’re not necessarily attempting to take opioids. They’re using K2, crack cocaine, Xanax, a number of other substances,” ATCEMS Captain Christa Stedman said. “Whatever is doing this is making its way into everything, and that’s why we need people to be alert.”

APD investigating overdose surge

On Thursday, APD identified one of two people considered as a person of interest in the overdose surge investigation. That person was identified as Johnny Lee Wright, and he was arrested for possession of a firearm. The second person was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, which is a third degree felony, according to police.

The agency said it has “seized approximately 3 grams of crack cocaine which tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl,” APD said in a statement to KXAN.

APD believes the increase of overdoses downtown “was a result of ingesting” “crack cocaine potentially containing fentanyl.”

However, the agency went on to say that it is “unable to positively say the cause of the overdose deaths were the result of fentanyl until toxicology testing has been completed” by the Travis County Medical Examiners Office. Furthermore, APD said “nothing points to a single organized group distributing the illicit narcotics” in the city at this time.

The APD Organized Crime Division continues to investigate the surge with undercover operations “in various parts of Austin” to find and arrest “narcotics dealers” and “obtain more information on the source of the fentanyl.”

Private security hired last summer, in part, to deter illegal drug activity downtown

The company was hired last year to patrol the following streets amid a staffing shortage at the Austin Police Department:

  • The intersection of Sixth and Brazos Street

  • The intersection of Sixth Street and Congress Avenue

  • The 400-700 blocks of Sixth Street

These private security patrols began last summer. The businesses who hired them said the primary goal was to deter illegal drug activity and unruly behavior downtown.

Downtown Austin businesses pitch in to hire private security

“Some building managers and owners have expressed needing constant security in these areas,” APD said in a statement when KXAN first asked about the security patrols last year. “APD cannot commit these resources to certain areas 24 hours a day/seven days a week, and is aware that some business owners and managers are opting to hire private security to ensure their businesses are protected.”

Anti-drug nonprofit hosting rally Friday

The nonprofit “Association of People Against Lethal Drugs” is hosting its annual rally starting at 4 p.m. Friday on the south steps of the Texas Capitol Building.

The event was already planned, it’s not taking place because of this week’s deadly cases, but organizers like Krissy Wells, who’s running this year’s event, said these incidents make their mission of calling for harsher penalties for dealers that much more important.

“We want people who are poisoning people on purpose and know their drug can kill people and just want to make a profit, we want them to go to prison, because that’s where they belong,” she said.

The event will run until 7 p.m.

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