4 found dead inside Fullerton home after friend reported mass drug overdose, police say

Fullerton police said they discovered the bodies of four people inside a residence after a friend reported they had overdosed and were not breathing.

Authorities said they were called to an apartment in the 100 block of Wilshire Avenue at 11:01 a.m. on Tuesday and the bodies were discovered.

“There is no immediate threat to the public,” the police said in a statement.

Two women console one another following the deaths of four softball teammates from apparent overdoses in Fullerton on Oct. 21.

(KTLA)

Detectives have launched a death investigation. Authorities have not confirmed the identities of the deceased, but a friend of the group told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that they were all part of the same softball team.

Police did not confirm the deaths were a result of a drug overdose and could not immediately be reached for additional comment on Wednesday.

But drug use has become a growing concern in the county in recent years.

In Orange County, the rate of death due to opioid overdose nearly tripled from 2017 to 2021, from 7.9 deaths per 100,000 to 23.2. The largest increase occurred during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the overdose rate rising 88% between 2019 and 2020, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.