Police investigating 2 deaths in Buckhead as possible overdoses

ATLANTA - Police said they are investigating two separate deaths in Buckhead on Friday afternoon as possible overdoses. The calls came in within minutes of each other, but investigators said they were unrelated.

The first call came from the Post Chastain Apartments located in the 4800 block of Chastain Drive. SKYFOX 5 flew over the scene shortly after and found police, emergency officials, and the medical examiner's office in the parking lot of the apartments.

Lt. Tim Brown with the Atlanta Police Department Special Enforcement Section said officers and emergency officials entered the apartment and found a man dead. Lt. Brown said there was a powder at the scene and because of the recent fentanyl outbreak in Georgia, they evacuated some apartments as a precaution until they could safely contain it.

"Once they arrived he was deceased," said Brown. "There were some suspected narcotics inside the apartment."

"It started with a few ambulances coming in fire trucks, police cars," said Grace McGrath, who lives in the building. "Wasn't really sure what was going on until I saw helicopters and people coming and saying they couldn't get into their building."

Brown said they took out several items including the possible narcotics. The lieutenant said they will be sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab for analysis.

"It's so easy for people to not only inhale or touch these narcotics you know it could cause a death and not even people that it could be small children or anyone else who is in the area," said Brown. "If they touch this stuff or inhale this -- if it is fentanyl it can be fatal."

Police said there are new protocols in place to handle overdose cleanup and investigations. They said they are not taking any chances.

Police said they went to the apartment after receiving a welfare check request.

Lt. Brown said a second, unrelated death happened at a hotel located on Wieuca Road NE. Police said officers responded to the location after receiving a medical call reporting a man down.

Brown said investigators would not speculate if the either of the deaths was caused by overdosing. The lieutenant said he was not about to link either death to the widely reported overdoses of a new drug manufactured to look like Percocet pills. At least a dozen overdoses have been linked to that new drug so far, according to the GBI.

Investigators said the exact cause and manner of death for both men will be determined by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.

RELATED: GBI releases initial results of new drug causing overdoses in Middle Georgia