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Man, 21, dies from suspected drug overdose

Rescuers respond to 3 separate OD calls

A 21-year-old man died and two others were revived in three separate suspected drug overdoses in Butler within three hours Tuesday, authorities said.

Kade Shipkowski was pronounced dead at Butler Memorial Hospital after being found about 7:40 p.m. in woods near the North Side Cemetery on North Main Street Extension.

An autopsy was planned this afternoon, said Butler County Deputy Coroner Larry Barr.

A man walking his dog came upon Shipkowski, who was lying on the ground, Butler police said. The man told police he called out to the victim, who appeared to raise his arm.

Police Deputy Chief David Adam said the man, who did not have a cell phone, returned to his home and called 911.

Shipkowski’s lips and face were blue when officers got there.

“He had no pulse but was warm to the touch,” Adam said. “He was not breathing.”

The officers administered the opioid overdose-reversal drug Narcan but it had no effect. Butler Fire Department and Butler Ambulance Service crews arrived and performed chest compressions and deployed an automated external defibrillator.

Rescuers carried Shipkowski out of the woods before taking him to the hospital.

A search found him carrying a crack pipe, a Chore Boy copper scrubber, which is commonly used to filter crack pipes, and plastic bags containing suspected drug residue on them.

“We’re still investigating,” Adam said. “We haven’t determined a cause of death or what happened to him.”

Less than one-half hour before that call, police were sent to Memorial Park for a report of a suspected overdose.

Police said they found John L. Mohan Jr., 34, of Butler lying on the walkway in front of the swimming pool.

Officers gave the man two doses of Narcan, which revived him. He refused further medical treatment.

Adam said he did not know this morning if any drug contraband was recovered.

The first of the day’s three suspected overdoses was reported to 911 at 4:43 p.m. The caller said she had returned to their East Wayne Street home and found her boyfriend, Michael Karch, 37, unconscious.

He was revived with Narcan that Butler ambulance paramedics administered, authorities said. He, too, refused any additional medical treatment.

No drug paraphernalia was found, Adam said.

It was the second time in less than a week that emergency crews had treated Karch with Narcan for a suspected overdose at his home.

Police said that when he regained consciousness April 12, Karch admitted that he shot up five bags of heroin.

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