Two people have died and at least 15 others have been hospitalized in a series of drug overdoses Tuesday on the West and Northwest sides.
A 50-year-old man was found dead of an apparent overdose at 6:28 a.m. in the 600 block of North Homan Avenue, according to Chicago police. He was identified as Anthony Shanks, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
About 9:40 a.m., multiple overdoses were reported in the area around Chicago and Homan avenues, police said. About the same time, multiple callers also reported a silver-colored SUV driving around the area selling drugs.
By the end of Tuesday, a total of 17 overdoses had been reported, with people hospitalized at Mount Sinai Hospital, Norwegian American Hospital, Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, police said. A Chicago police officer used Narcan, an opiate overdose antidote, on two of the people who were taken to hospitals.
Another possible overdose victim, a 47-year-old man, was found dead sometime Tuesday morning in the 5300 block of North East River Road on the Northwest Side, police said. Investigators are trying to determine whether that overdose is connected to the others.
Area North detectives are investigating.
