HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Several students at a Henrico County middle school reported being sick Thursday after eating gummy bears that another student gave them.
Police say a male student at John Rolfe Middle School brought gummy bears to school and told his friends that they were edible gummies laced with drugs.
Four or five students reported feeling sick after eating the gummy bears, according to police. Those students went to the school nurse, who called Henrico Fire and EMS.
Henrico Fire and EMS responded to the scene to check out the students involved. No students were transported to the hospital, but those students’ parents were called to pick them up. Multiple parents took their children to the hospital to be checked out, police confirmed.
Police say they have spoken to the father of the student who brought the gummies and he claims that they were normal gummy bears and not laced with anything.
No charges or petitions have been filed in the case, police said. They are still investigating if the gummy bears were laced with anything.
Henrico County School spokesperson Andy Jenks released a statement saying there is “no indication that students ingested a harmful substance.”
"A student handed out gummy bears. Then it was a question if they were something ‘more’ than just gummy bears, which hasn’t been confirmed. Students were checked out by the nurse as a precaution and we called EMTs as a precaution. Of course, the parents were contacted too. No indication that students ingested a harmful substance, no one showed adverse symptoms as far as I’m aware, but we’re taking every necessary precaution and involving the students’ families as well."
