Several children were sickened at a summer day camp in East Orange, New Jersey, after they ate what police say were suspected drug-laced edibles handed out by another child. One child was taken to a hospital, and East Orange police have launched an investigation into how the edibles ended up in the hands of a camper at the site.
According to police, a camp counselor at the East Orange YMCA camp noticed a camper handing out what looked like candy. Before long, about a dozen campers reported that they were not feeling well. In all, 13 campers are said to have been given drug-laced chocolate by another child during the incident at the camp on North Arlington Avenue.
One of the children ended up in the hospital. That child was taken in out of an abundance of caution because of a pre-existing medical condition, according to accounts of the incident. The other campers who were affected reported feeling ill after eating the suspected edibles, which were initially described as possibly containing mushrooms.
Among the affected children was the 12-year-old child of Cynthia Cunningham, who was one of the 13 campers. Cunningham raced her child to the hospital as the youngster grew lethargic and dazed, and the child's 9-year-old sister recorded video of her sibling. Cunningham said her daughter was distraught, believing that she was in some kind of trouble.
East Orange police and the YMCA say a camp counselor noticed a child handing out the candy, which the camp says is against its policies. In a statement, the YMCA said that staff later noticed campers having an adverse reaction to the substance, prompting the camp to enact its emergency protocols, contact emergency services, reach parents and call the police.
Cunningham said she is furious and left with questions, including why the counselor who saw a child distributing the candy did not collect it from the other campers before they had a chance to eat it. She said her children will not be returning to the camp, and she questioned why the camp was allowed to reopen as detectives worked to determine exactly what happened.