Knoxville venue shuts down concert after three possible drug overdoses

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - First responders and Knoxville Police Department officers responded to The Concourse on North Broadway on Friday due to three possible drug overdoses, according to KPD.

KPD Spokesperson Scott Erland said two women and a man were rushed to a hospital. One of them was found with suspected cocaine while the other with suspected heroin.

Concert goer, Tristan Fleisch, told WVLT News he was hanging out with a group of friends, preparing for an electronic dance music concert. He said the concert was over before it started.

“It was just scary to see that,” said Fleisch. “It was good to see they evacuated everyone, you know, got everybody out of there before something worse off and more people started overdosing or dying.”

In a statement on Facebook the owners of the Concourse said that moving forward, they plan to enact new security protocols at all future EDM shows and work on partnering with a local harm reduction organization to have a presence. They have ordered fentanyl-detecting test strips and will have them on hand for their next event.

The owners also said they are thankful for the East Tennessee Harm Reduction group that keeps them supplied with Narcan and to the first responders who helped to make sure the three guests and others were okay.

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