Police Talk Drugs with OHS Students

A Wichita Falls CrimeStoppers officer warned Olney High School students about the potentially fatal consequences of ingesting fentanyl just days after Wichita Falls police confirmed an Olney teenager died of an overdose of the powerful painkiller.

Wichita Falls has seen 22 overdose deaths linked to fentanyl since January of 2022, WFPD spokesman Sgt. Charlie Eipper said.

One of the deceased was 13-year-old Olney Junior High School student Kaysen Villarreal, who collapsed after unwittingly taking a pill laced with fentanyl, Sgt. Eipper said.

“They thought they were taking Percocet and that won’t kill you,” he said. “If it’s laced with Fentanyl it is very dangerous. There’s been some of them that look like gummy bears. The reason [drug dealers] do that is to disguise it from law enforcement.”

The fentanyl-laced drugs, candies, and nasal sprays are entering Texas through Mexico and Canada, and law enforcement wants parents and students to be watchful. “It’s definitely going to take a team effort with Texas and the nation,” he said.