CRISP COUNTY, Ga. — The fentanyl crisis continues in Central Georgia, with Crisp County reporting four overdoses over the weekend.
In just one day in Crisp County, fentanyl took the lives of two young men.
According to Sheriff Billy Hancock, "If you really think about it before you take it. Whether you inject it, you swallow it, you snort it, this might be the hit that kills me," Hancock said.
Hancock says two men, ages 23 and 29 died from fentanyl overdoses.
"What I want people to understand is just because you get it from a friend or somebody. You don't know the makeup of that drug," Hancock said.
Coroner Ricky Dawson JR. says four overdoses all happened on Saturday, Feb. 11th.
"Two passed away within an hour, and it's sad. We have a population of less than 20,000, and for this monster to come to a small town like this, it's scary," Dawson said.
"I'm never going to see my child again. I am never going to see my parents again. Would you take it?" Hancock said.
Hancock says in the last 12 months, they've had to take close to 11,000 pills off the streets. Since 2022, the Crisp County police have saved 16 lives with Narcan.
But the deaths are heartbreaking because the Crisp County Community is too tight-knit.
"You want to take care of them. You feel like as Sheriff it's your responsibility, and someway somehow you're responsible for each individual in this community," Hancock said.
In May of 2022, Hancock launched a Fentanyl Awareness Campaign with the goal: to collaborate, educate and enforce. In the last 12 months, Coroner Dawson says Crisp County has had more than 20 overdose deaths.