Lincoln police report 6 people dead from suspected drug overdoses in last 2 weeks

Six people are believed to have died from drug overdoses in Lincoln in the past two weeks, according to the Lincoln Police Department.

Two of those overdoses occurred Wednesday, police said. Two of the victims were women and four were men, with ages ranging from 25 to 66 years old, according to Lincoln Police Department Public Information Officer Erika Thomas.

Thomas clarified that as of now, police don’t know what drug caused each individual fatality.

“We know that they are drug overdoses, but we don't know the substances. That will be part of the investigation to determine and to determine if there's any connection,” Thomas said. “So it is possible that all six overdoses were from different drugs and have zero connection, or it's possible that they could all be the exact same thing.”

The investigation is currently ongoing as the narcotics and criminal investigations units work to determine what substances were responsible for the deaths of the six people, according to a statement from Lincoln police.

Lincoln has seen a decrease in fatal overdoses in recent years, with 21 fatal overdoses in 2024 compared to 45 in 2021. Of the 21 fatal overdoses in 2024, five were the result of fentanyl and 11 were due to other opioids.

Police are reminding residents to not take any drug unless it was prescribed by a medical professional.

“With these cases from the last two weeks, we don't know yet whether you know that connection, but I would say having Narcan on hand in case someone around you were to overdose never hurts, because we want to be able to save lives and keep overdoses from happening,” Thomas said.

Through the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, individuals are able to obtain Narcan for free through vending machines located around the city. You can find those locations at stopodne.com.