Over a dozen children drugged at summer camp and found ‘looking like zombies’ as cops probe ‘deeply concerning’ incident

NewsUS News OVER a dozen children have been found at their summer camp ‘looking like zombies’ after eating food laced with drugs. Cops have condemned the “deeply concerning” incident that saw a 12-year-old hospitalized. Over a dozen children were drugged after eating chocolate laced with edibles at their summer camp in New Jersey Credit: ABC 7 Video shows Cynthia Cunningham racing her 12-year-old child to the hospital while her 9-year-old sister was recording after finding the children ‘looking like zombies’ Credit: ABC 7 All 13 of the drugged campers aged between 10 and 13 had eaten chocolate that officials believe contained mushrooms. They had been in the care of counselors from the YMCA summer camp in East Orange, New Jersey, when the incident took place just after 11am on Thursday. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Police officers were called to the scene when all 13 campers started feeling unwell. “When I arrived, there were 13 children; they looked like zombies,” mom Cynthia Cunningham revealed to ABC7 News. After racing to the camp to check on her daughter, she immediately took her child to the hospital. “I got there, my daughter was destroye, d very emotion; al she thought she was in trouble,” she said. “We were in the car she would shift her body to one side.” A video shared with the news outlet that was filmed by her nine-year-old daughter in the car appeared to show the camper staring out of the window. Most read in The Sun Cunningham revealed how her daughter was ‘destroyed’ and ‘very emotional’ when she got to the YMCA Credit: ABC 7 The chocolate edible is believed to have been handed out by one of the young campers as an investigation continues into how they got hold of it Credit: ABC 7 A counselor told police that one of the children had been seen passing around the chocolate to fellow campers, after which they fell ill. All children were evaluated at the camp and determined to be in stable condition, with one taken to the hospital due to a preexisting medical condition. “This incident is deeply concerning, particularly because it involves the safety and well-being of children,” East Orange Police Chief Phyllis Bindi said in a statement to ABC7. “The East Orange Police Department takes incidents involving suspected controlled substances extremely seriously. “Our detectives are conducting a thorough investigation to determine exactly what occurred, how these suspected edibles came into the possession of a juvenile, and whether any criminal offenses were committed.” The YMCA said that “when staff noticed campers having an adverse reaction to the substance, we immediately enacted our emergency protocols, contacting emergency services, parents, and the police.” An investigation is ongoing and no charges have been filed. Comment now