17 Middle School Students Ate Mysterious Gummy Bears Before Emergency Drug Overdose Call: Exclusive Details

Seventeen Southern California middle school students were treated for an unknown drug on Thursday, Oct. 17 after consuming laced gummy bears, the Los Angeles Fire Department tells PEOPLE.

The nurse at Walter Reed Middle School called 911 around 10:29 a.m. on Thursday morning after several students between 12 and 13 years old fell ill with reported overdose symptoms, such as “nausea, vomiting, lethargy, anxiety,”  LAFD Captain Erik Scott says. First responders arrived to the school by 11 a.m.

Scott tells PEOPLE there is no evidence of fentanyl in the drugs, and says an investigation is underway “to determine exactly what that was, if it was THC [or] CBD.”

“The students had stated that they did ingest something that was in the shape of a gummy bear,” he added.

Scott says there were “a total of 35 firefighters on scene, including five ambulances and two advanced providers, which were nurse practitioners that fully evaluated” all 17 students.

Two students were transported to a local hospital. The other 15 were released “on the scene to either the school or their parents,” per LAFD representative Margaret Stewart. None of the affected children had any life-threatening symptoms but suffered from “general fatigue [and] weakness.”

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A mother of a Walter Reed student exclusively tells PEOPLE that there were helicopters flying over the middle school. The mother, who did not want to be identified, explains she decided to drive over there “because there have been two shooter lockdowns in the last few months.” But en route, she received “an email from another parent saying kids had ingested a substance, paramedics were there and it was turning into a crime scene.” 

Once she arrived, there were nine ambulances, news crews, and “a number of cops.” She was unsure if her child had taken the substance. “I saw three different children on stretchers, and each one was holding a plastic basin, and they were throwing up. I saw it up close,” she says. “The kids looked so scared and it was just so sad.” 

“I did notice the paramedics seemed pretty calm, so I assumed it wasn’t fentanyl, but we had no idea,” she notes, adding that about 100 parents arrived to remove their kids from school. 

“After I knew my son was safe, I then thought about all the kids looking out the windows, while trying to study and learn, seeing a barrage of emergency vehicles and sick, scared kids and how that is a trauma in and of itself,” she says. The mother notes that they “closed down a portion of the school and declared it a crime scene.” 

“We still don’t have almost any details of what it was or what happened,” she reveals to PEOPLE.

Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson sent PEOPLE a statement on behalf of principal Paul De Bonis confirming that the school district is cooperating with the Los Angeles School Police Department and local health partners.

The representative also asked parents to “talk to your children about substance abuse and the harmful side effects of controlled substances,” adding that the school has “mental health resources for students impacted by this incident, including counseling support.”

“We also encourage everyone to follow the District’s message: if you see something, say something,” the statement concluded.

This story is developing.