On February 14th, 28 students from Sandtown Middle School outside of Atlanta, Georgia were hospitalized after they ate candy at school. The afflicted students reportedly felt nauseous and disoriented after eating snacks akin to Rice Krispies and lollipops. 25 of those 28 students have been released from the hospital as of today, February 15th. However, officials are still investigating what went wrong.
A spokesperson from the Fulton County School District told BuzzFeed News, “At this time, we cannot confirm that food or candy was the source of the students’ illnesses, but it is being investigated.”
According to both students and parents who spoke to local news stations, the snacks and candy in question were being distributed by fellow students. After students began to fall ill, school staff went around to each classroom telling students only to eat food that they brought from home.
“They told us not to eat any of the candy that they had. They were like Rice Krispies and stuff, like lollipops,” a student told local NBC station 11 Alive. “They were, like, all over the place.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) was expected to step in and figure out what went wrong. As of today, February 15th, the GBI was still waiting to be given evidence of those snacks and candies for testing purposes.
#BREAKING: @DaveHWSB talked to a mother who says she got a notification that several students at Sandtown Middle School ate something that made them sick: https://t.co/SwRqIW5KvC We're at the scene working to learn more. pic.twitter.com/4WKJKR1Zhc
— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) February 14, 2019
“Until the investigation is complete, the school system cannot make a determination of what caused students’ illnesses, its origin, if there was a deliberate, wrongful act committed, or if criminal charges or student discipline will be levied,” the Fulton County spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.
So maybe it wasn’t candy??? Fulton County Schools say it’s still not clear what caused 28 students to get suddenly sick yesterday. 25 of them are out of the hospital. #11Alive pic.twitter.com/F92bRYKNjr
— Ryan Kruger (@RyanKrugerTV) February 15, 2019
South Fulton Mayor Bill Edwards updated parents and concerned citizens via Facebook yesterday afternoon. “I would like to inform our citizens that everything is under control as it seems that the incident was with children in the same class,” Mayor Edwards wrote.
“Principal Cook and staff did an outstanding job in making sure our children were safe,” Mayor Edwards added. “I know that people are using the terms like active incident, but trust me everybody performed superbly.”
VOMITING IN THE HALLS: Students at Sandtown Middle School got violently ill after eating some snacks on Valentine’s Day. We spoke with one student who says she saw the rice krispy looking treats and said they looked off and brown in color, so she didn’t eat them. @GoodDayAtlanta pic.twitter.com/kjUkn07qYD
— Alexa Liacko (@AlexaLiacko) February 15, 2019
Most students were taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for treatment. There, practitioners reported the students were suffering from altered mental states and rapid heart rate.
The Sandtown Middle PTSA’s thoughts and prayers are with the families of Sandtown Middle School students. As the safety of our students is a priority, we support the school and district as they investigate today’s events.
— SandtownMiddlePTSAPres (@SMSPtsaPres) February 15, 2019
We’re probably all thinking the same thing. Right?
Yeah. Thought so.
Of course, no confirmation has been made as to whether or not the candy was laced with marijuana. But suspicious candy plus an “altered mental state” kind of adds up…
Thankfully, none of the students suffered anything worse than confusion and a rapid hearbeat. Otherwise, the jokes would not be so cute.
Someone brought the “good good” brownies to school lol
— Blake Fannin (@FanninBlake) February 14, 2019
If edibles aren’t to blame, then officials could be dealing with a bigger problem. Our fingers are crossed there is no ill intent behind this scandal.
20 kids is a whole classroom. Only a truly horrible person messes with children's candy.
— Natalie (@SSJNAT88) February 14, 2019
In fact, let’s hope it were edibles rather than something worse. A sad but simple mistake is all.
“Everyone started bringing candy in the shape of hearts,” a student told 11 Alive. “So, people started, like, passing them out and like people were eating them.” This student thought the candy may have been tainted with drugs.
Edibles i suspect..🤔
— 💜🌷 Alisha 💜🌷 (@ElishaBenson4) February 15, 2019
The same student noted that the Rice Krispies looked like they were homemade. The lollipops appeared to be store-bought.
It would be helpful to know what candy it was - do we know yet?
— @40yroldSwiftie Karen Rose (@40yroldswiftie) February 14, 2019
Until the GBI is able to test the snacks, theories and conspiracies should be kept to a minimum. We’re just glad everyone is okay.
Our agency has received numerous inquiries about the status of testing samples from the Sandtown Middle School incident. At this point, the GBI Crime Lab has not received any evidence related to this case. Once the evidence is submitted, it will be tested by our labs.
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) February 15, 2019
And until this scenario is cleared up… we might avoid discounted Valentine’s Day candy…
We’re glad everyone is okay and we hope that the GBI gets to the bottom of this soon.
