Philadelphia children examined at hospital after heroin found in classroom

[June 11, 2014]  By Dan Kelley
 
 PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - An entire class of first-graders in Philadelphia was taken to a hospital for examination on Tuesday after a classmate was found with heroin in their classroom, authorities said.

Police were called to Commodore John Barry Elementary School in the Cobbs Creek section of the city after a teacher saw a girl playing with what appeared to be narcotics, said Tanya Little, a police spokeswoman.

Officers discovered 10 to 12 bags of heroin in the classroom, some of which may have been opened or chewed on.

Little said 20 children were taken to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. None showed signs of injury and all of the children have been released to their parents. American first-graders are typically aged 6 or 7.

Police said they did not know how the child obtained the heroin.

"Someone has to be liable for this," Little said.

(Reporting by Dan Kelley; Editing by Edith Honan and Peter Cooney)

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