(UVALDE, Texas) — An elementary school teacher wounded in the second-most deadly school shooting in U.S. history in Uvalde, Texas, described the chilling moments he first encountered a gunman who would take the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
Arnulfo Reyes was watching a movie with 11 of his students when he heard the deadly shots ringing out, he told ABC News anchor Amy Robach for an interview airing Tuesday on “Good Morning America,” as he recovered from two gunshot wounds at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
The 17-year veteran teacher described multiple harrowing encounters with the gunman, offering the most vivid account yet of what transpired inside his classroom on May 24, when 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos attacked Robb Elementary School.
Reyes and his students were in Room 111, one of the adjoining classrooms where Ramos allegedly carried out the attack, he said. When the children began asking, “What is going on?” Reyes said he attempted to remain calm and gave instructions to his students to keep them safe.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s go ahead and get under the table,” Reyes said he told the students. “Get under the table and act like you’re asleep.”
After Reyes told the children to get under the table, he turned around and saw the gunman standing there.
Ramos then almost immediately opened fire on the classroom, Reyes said.
Reyes said he was shot twice. One bullet went through an arm and lung, and another bullet hit him in the back.
As Reyes lay incapacitated, Ramos turned his AR-15 style rifle, bought days after his 18th birthday, onto the young children– mostly third and fourth graders.
Reyes then heard police officers outside the classroom as a child in the next room called for help, he said, adding that he believes the officers had walked away at that point, having not heard the pleas.
“One of the students from the next-door classroom was saying, ‘Officer, we’re in here. We’re in here,'” Reyes said. “But they had already left.”
The gunman then got up from behind Reyes’ desk in Room 111 and began shooting again in Room 112, Reyes said.
The next time Reyes heard officers, they were telling Ramos to come out — that they just wanted to talk and were not going to hurt him, Reyes said.
Then, silence. Before eventually officers breached the door and fatally shot him, Reyes said.
One student survivor, 10-year-old Samuel Salinas, told ABC News after the shooting that the gunman came into his classroom and said, “You’re all gonna die,” and just started shooting.
“He shot the teacher and then he shot the kids,” Salinas said, adding that he played dead to avoid being shot.
The funerals for the victims are continuing until June 25.
(WASHINGTON) — As a bipartisan group of senators — a smaller subset of the original group of 10 — prepared to meet in person on Monday night to go over options for possible gun legislation, members from both sides of the aisle were expressing optimism that some kind of deal may come together by week’s end, with Democrats cautioning against allowing talks to drag out.
“My goal is to reach an agreement by the end of the week. We have more Republicans and Democrats sitting together than ever before — since Sandy Hook. What we’re talking about is substantial. It will save lives,” lead Democratic negotiator Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, told ABC News’ Rachel Scott. “While I’m certainly prepared to fail, I’m more hopeful for success than ever before.”
“We’re trying to get a bipartisan outcome here that makes a difference, and hopefully sometime this week we’ll come together,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, echoing Murphy, though he mentioned no specifics.
And while there was a palpable sense of cautious optimism in the air — as the latest round of negotiations continued in the wake of the latest mass shootings — there was also a sense of fragility in what has been happening behind the scenes. GOP aides, in particular, remained incredibly sensitive about the talks, taking time to correct reporters on various ideas that were potentially on the table.
One suggestion, for example, was an expansion of current federal background checks. But an aide to lead Republican negotiator John Cornyn, of Texas, cautioned the press that any changes to the law would not expand but rather strengthen the system for those already subject to a background check.
Cornyn, in a floor speech on Monday, indicated that the focus was on mental health and school safety, two subjects that appear to be safer political territory for Republicans, many of whom argue restrictions on firearms, including on once-banned assault weapons, violate the Second Amendment.
“Over the last week and a half, I’ve been talking particularly with Sen. Murphy, Sen. [Thom] Tillis, Sen. [Kyrsten] Sinema, but literally with everybody I can reach on the phone or get through text message to see if there’s some package of mental health and safety legislation that addresses some of the factors that might have prevented the recent shootings in Uvalde and elsewhere,” Cornyn said.
He added, “I want to be clear, though: We are not talking about restricting the rights of current law-abiding gun owners or citizens.”
“What I’m interested in is keeping guns out of the hands of those who, by current law, are not supposed to have them,” Cornyn said. “People with mental health problems, people who have criminal records. Again, this is about the art of the possible. In order to deliver results, we have to build consensus, and the best way to do that is through targeted reforms.”
While no vote is expected this week, lawmakers, specifically Democrats, are eyeing a fast-approaching deadline of the end of the week for a compromise to be in hand. The majority party is conscious of the painful lessons learned by the failure of the sweeping social, economic and climate legislation — known as Build Back Better — that they attempted to fast-track after retaking Congress in 2021, only to see members of their own party tank the bill’s chances following months of grinding talks.
“Look at reconciliation. The failure to have a real, finite deadline led us on and on and on, month after month, and we ended up empty-handed. So I think Chuck [Schumer] was right in saying to the negotiators, ‘I’m glad you’re meeting but do something and do it in a timely fashion.’ Otherwise it would drag out and otherwise American people would lose their faith in our ability to respond in any way,” the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Illinois’ Dick Durbin, told reporters Monday, referring to the majority leader’s position on the latest round of talks.
Durbin said he wouldn’t call Friday a “final deadline,” but he signaled there would be little patience with anything too far beyond that.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also a negotiator, told Rachel Scott that it was time for Republicans to “put up or shut up.”
But Cornyn warned on Monday against pressuring for a deal.
“I will not settle on inadequate or downright harmful legislation for the sake of doing something. That’s not productive for anyone,” he said. “That’s one of the things I hear the most: People say, ‘Do something.’ Well, we can agree something needs to be done. But what that something is is much harder to achieve — and so targeted reforms, I think, are the way to get to where we need to go.”
One unusual, A-list lobbyist in Congress this week: Actor Matthew McConaughey — a native of Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman massacred 21 at an elementary school last month — who was on the Hill on Monday evening to talk gun safety. An aide familiar with the matter told ABC News that the actor planned to discuss the issue with the bipartisan Senate group as well as some House lawmakers.
Negotiators have met at least four times during the weeklong recess that just ended, but aides told ABC News that a deal was far from ready. Paper has been exchanged behind the scenes with negotiators working to build consensus in the hope of unveiling a bill that can garner at least a filibuster-proof 60 to 70 votes in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a negotiator working on background checks for commercial sales, told ABC News on Monday that he would support increasing the age from 18 to 21 for adults to be able to purchase a semi-automatic weapon like the AR-15s that are repeatedly used in mass shootings.
“We know two things that would have stopped this: One, if the age was at 21; and also if there were ‘red flag’ laws,” said Manchin, referencing legislation that allows law enforcement, with a court order, to temporarily seize guns from those deemed a danger to themselves or others.
“There are no red lines. We’ve got to do something. We have to bring gun sense into America,” Manchin said.
But an age restriction is not something Republicans are interested in doing.
“Not likely. Not likely. We ask 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds to go to war, to defend our freedom, and the homeland as well … So, I think it would seem a little bit hypocritical to ask an 18- or 19-year-old who’s a responsible gun owner to have one,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told Rachel Scott.
Democrats seem resigned to accepting a compromise that will not contain anything near what they want — despite President Joe Biden’s push otherwise — but doing something is the goal in the face of so much carnage, they have said.
“I can guarantee you despite their best efforts, they will for sure fall short of what I want to see done,” Durbin told reporters of the possible deal. “But as [is] the nature of a 50-50 Senate and political compromise, we ought to see anything that is a sensible way to reduce gun violence.”
(WASHINGTON) — The military has identified a U.S. service member as a “possible suspect” in an April 7 attack in Syria that injured other American troops, an official said Monday.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) are conducing a joint investigation into the incident. (The probe was first reported by CNN.)
Four U.S. service members were evaluated for minor wounds and possible traumatic brain injuries after what the military originally reported to be two indirect-fire rounds hitting the Green Village base in Syria.
An Army CID official confirmed in a statement that the service member was being investigated, adding that the person was currently back in the U.S.
The official emphasized that “at this point these are just allegations” and that any suspects were presumed innocent.
“The investigation is ongoing, which may or may not, develop sufficient evidence to identify a perpetrator(s) and have enough evidence to ensure a conviction in a court of law,” the official said.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(PHILADELPHIA) — Arrest warrants were issued Monday for two suspects in a mass shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia as police continue to work to identify other gunmen in the rampage that left three people dead and 11 injured, according to prosecutors.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference that he approved charges against two suspects “in connection to what we anticipate are non-fatal shootings.”
Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said warrants were issued for Quran Garner, who was shot by a police officer during the incident and is in custody, and a second individual, whose name was not released, and who remains at large.
Pescatore said Garner, who was undergoing surgery Monday on an injured hand, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers.
The unnamed individual is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, conspiracy, violating the uniform firearms act, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.
Citing security video, Pescatore said the shooting erupted after one of the victims she identified as Micah Towns got into a physical confrontation with Gregory Jackson, a 34-year-old man who was killed in the shooting.
Pescatore said Towns and Jackson were passing each other on the same side of South Street when words were exchanged, setting off a melee.
“Jackson takes a swing at Micah Towns, striking him in the face,” Pescatore said.
She said the unnamed wanted suspect, who was with Jackson at the time, gets involved in the fight.
“Micah Towns is thrown against a window while they are beating on him,” Pescatore said.
She said Jackson, who had a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm, is seen on video pulling out a gun and holding it to his side. She said, Towns, who also had a concealed firearm permit, drew his gun and fired at Jackson in self-defense, killing him.
Pescatore said the unnamed suspect then shot Towns, who remains in a hospital in serious condition.
She said Garner, who was with Towns at the time, then allegedly drew a weapon and fired in the direction of where the melee occurred as police converged on the scene.
She said Garner then allegedly aimed his weapon at officers, who fired at him, striking him in the hand.
Pescatore said Garner ran from the area yelling “he shot my hand off” and police lost him in the crowd. She said Garner later approached other officers dealing with a separate shooting on Second Street, claimed he had been shot in the incident and was taken to a hospital.
Pescatore said Garner allegedly fired a Ghost gun, a non-traceable weapon, in the shooting and that it remains unclear if he hit anyone. The gun also had an extended magazine.
The unnamed suspect remained at the scene rendering medical aid to Jackson, Pescatore said.
She said the suspect gave his name and address to police and was allowed to leave the scene. It was only after investigators reviewed the video did they realize the man was involved in the shooting and was caught on video picking up Jackson’s gun and giving it to an unidentified man in a blue hooded sweatshirt who fled with the weapon.
Pescatore said at least four guns — three 9mm weapons and a .40-caliber handgun — were involved in the shooting on Second Street, a popular nightlife area full of bars and restaurants that was crowded with hundreds of people when the shooting erupted.
She said the crime scene encompassed about a two block area.
Philadelphia police officials said officers recovered two guns from the scene, including one with an extended magazine, authorities said.
“Hour by hour we are finding out more information,” Krasner said.
Krasner described witnessing a “chilling” scene when he visited the site of the shooting just hours after it occurred.
“It is no less chilling that it happened in no less than 10 places around the country in a space of a few days,” said Krasner, referring to mass shootings that occurred over the weekend in nine different states that left a total of at least 17 people dead and 62 injured.
The Philadelphia shooting erupted just before midnight Saturday at the busy intersection of Third and South streets.
Inspector D.F. Pace of the Philadelphia Police Department said hundreds of people were milling about the area when the shooting caused a panic and sent people running in all directions, some diving behind cars for cover.
Investigators are combing through security video to identify other suspects and determine a motive for the shooting, Pescatore said.
She urged anyone with information about the shooting to contact homicide investigators.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference on Sunday that two of the slain victims were innocent bystanders as well as many of those who were wounded.
One of those killed was identified as Kris Minners, a resident adviser at Girard College in Philadelphia, the Girard College Federation of Teachers union said in a statement. Two more victims were identified by the Philadelphia Police Department Sunday afternoon as Jackson and 27-year-old Alexis Quinn.
“The loss of Kris reminds us that gun violence can and will touch everyone in our nation as long as our elected officials allow it to continue,” the teachers’ union statement read.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — The Sacramento City Unified School District reinstated its mask mandate Monday just two months after making face coverings optional.
School officials said the decision came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designated the county as having high levels of COVID-19 in the community.
When counties enter this category, the federal health agency recommends masking in indoor, public spaces and on public transportation.
“Sacramento is a community that has been devastated due to COVID,” SCUSD Superintendent Jorge Aguilar told ABC News. “Our district has been really committed in the overall safety of our students and staff … so we established the CDC threshold would be the drivers for our decision-making.”
According to the CDC, the county is currently recording 283.49 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people every week.
Data from the district shows the case rate is currently more than seven times higher than when the mask mandate was lifted.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News that cases in Northern California are rising for several reasons, the main being the spread of new omicron subvariants.
“The new generations of subvariants are looking so different from the original variants from Wuhan that the antibodies don’t recognize them as easily,” he said.
He described immunity from vaccination against the new subvariants as two levels of defense.
“I think of the antibodies as guards at the front gate that are a little bit sleepy that let the virus in,” Chin-Hong said. “But you have B-cells and T-cells so, once the virus is in, they’re like the guard dog that attacks. So, you get infected, but you won’t go to the hospital.”
SCUSD’s decision comes as several school districts have reimposed mask mandates amid increasing COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
These include Philadelphia; Brookline, Massachusetts; and Providence, Rhode Island, as well as universities such as the University of Delaware and the University of Hawaii.
“I know that April to June is not a very long time and people were just getting used to” not having a mask mandate, Aguilar said. “I do recognize that this is a very divisive topic but we’ve been very fortunate that the vast majority of our community has stood firm and in support of the kinds of measures that we’ve put in place.”
Chin-Hong said SCUSD’s decision to reimpose mask mandates is an example of what health officials mean when they discuss ramping up mitigation measures when cases rise and easing them when cases fall.
“This is a good example of what turning on and off the switch of protection looks like,” he said. “I think we’ll have to get used to it to keep hospitals intact and keep people healthy.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday announced a new indictment charging Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of the extremist far-right group the Proud Boys, and four other members with seditious conspiracy — marking the second such indictment alleging coordination leading up to the Jan. 6 riot by individuals allegedly pledging to use violence to disrupt the peaceful transition of power.
All the individuals named in the 32-page indictment, including Tarrio, had previously faced conspiracy charges related to their involvement in planning to disrupt Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
The other members charged include Ethan Nordean, who assumed leadership of the Proud Boys on Jan. 6 as Tarrio was ordered to stay out of Washington, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — whois accused of initiating the first breach of the Capitol by smashing windows with a stolen police riot shield.
The indictment follows news from last April that another senior member of the Proud Boys, Charles Donohoe, reached a plea agreement and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors against the group.
The Justice Department previously charged 11 members of the Oath Keepers militia group with seditious conspiracy in January, including the group’s founder Stewart Rhodes.
Three senior members of the group have pleaded guilty in the case since the indictment was returned and agreed to cooperate with DOJ’s investigation — the remaining members have all pleaded not guilty.
(LONDON) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a “no-confidence” vote on Monday evening, with Conservative lawmakers voting in favor of his leadership by a margin of 211-148.
The vote could have forced his resignation after the prime minister became embroiled in a series of scandals.
Held by Johnson’s Conservative Party, the vote was the latest challenge aimed at ending the political career of the United Kingdom’s controversial leader.
“Conservative MPs made their choice tonight,” Keir Starmer, leader of the opposing Labour Party, said in a speech following the results. “They have ignored the British public and hitched themselves and their party firmly to Boris Johnson, and everything that he represents.”
Graham Brady, a Conservative MP, announced the vote on Monday morning, saying it had been triggered on Sunday when a 15% threshold of Conservative lawmakers in the House of Commons had decided they no longer trusted Johnson to lead.
“The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force,” No. 10 Downing St., Johnson’s office, said in a statement.
Brady told BBC News that he had informed Johnson on Sunday. Members who filed no-confidence letters with Brady had dated them to coincide with the end of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Sunday, so as not to interrupt the celebration, he said.
The prime minister required a simple majority to survive. The Conservative Party holds 359 seats in the U.K. Parliament, meaning he required 180 MPs to back him in order to stay in office.
Despite living to fight another day, the scale of victory could still prove to be a problem. With a close vote, observers say, he could still be pressured to resign at a later date. Under the current rules, however, he will be immune from a similar challenge to his leadership for a year.
Theresa May, Johnson’s predecessor, won a confidence vote 200-117 in December 2018, but would still resign five months later. Johnson received an even lower percentage of support.
The no-confidence vote comes after months of pressure building on Johnson’s leadership, and this is the first vote of its kind since Johnson became prime minister in July 2019.
A much publicized investigation by a top civil servant, Sue Gray, into over a dozen gatherings held at key government residences attending by Downing Street staff concluded in May.
The prime minister himself was personally issued a fine by the Metropolitan Police in April for attending an illegal gathering during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, becoming the first sitting prime minister in British history to receive a sanction for breaking the law.
Johnson apologized, but has since faced a chorus of calls to resign from opposition lawmakers and, now, members of his own party.
The report included a photo of the prime minister making a toast at a gathering held in No. 10 to mark the departure of one of his special advisers, at a time when the nation was under a strict lockdown. There were also a number of damning details in the report, including “multiple examples of a lack of respect and poor treatment of security and cleaning staff” and instances of “excessive alcohol consumption.”
“Many will be dismayed that behaviour of this kind took place on this scale at the heart of Government,” Gray wrote in the conclusion of the report. “The public have a right to expect the very highest standards of behaviour in such places and clearly what happened fell well short of this.”
While the government has received praise at home and abroad for their support for Ukraine, the scandal over “Partygate” and growing concern about the cost of living has overshadowed Johnson’s recent premiership.
On Friday, Johnson was booed by spectators at St. Paul’s Cathedral as he arrived for the National Service of Thanksgiving.
He has received public backing from several key lawmakers ahead of the no-confidence vote, which is a secret ballot, and Johnson will reportedly address his own MPs in order to make the case for his leadership ahead of the final vote on Monday evening.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(PHILADELPHIA) — At least two suspects in a mass shooting Saturday night in Philadelphia are expected to be charged as early as Monday afternoon as police continue to work to identify other gunmen in the rampage that left three people dead and 11 injured, according to prosecutors.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a news conference Monday morning that he expects to approve charges soon against two suspects “in connection to what we anticipate are non-fatal shootings.”
Krasner, who did not name the suspects, said he expects to sign off on the charges stemming from the gun violence by the end of Monday.
He said that based on the caliber of shell casings found at the crime scene, at least four guns were involved in the shooting on Second Street, a popular nightlife area full of bars and restaurants.
Philadelphia police officials said officers recovered two guns from the scene, including one with an extended magazine, authorities said.
“Hour by hour we are finding out more information,” Kramer said.
Krasner described witnessing a “chilling” scene when he visited the site of the shooting just hours after it occurred.
“It is no less chilling that it happened in no less than 10 places around the country in a space of a few days,” said Krasner, referring to mass shootings that occurred over the weekend in nine different states that left a total of at least 17 people dead and 62 injured.
The Philadelphia shooting erupted just before midnight Saturday at the busy intersection of Third and South streets.
Inspector D.F. Pace of the Philadelphia Police Department said hundreds of people were milling about the area when the shooting caused a panic and sent people running in all directions, some diving behind cars for cover.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a press conference Sunday afternoon that a police officer responding to gunshots in the area witnessed a man firing a gun into a crowd and attempted to detain him. Outlaw said the officer fired at the armed man three times before losing the assailant in the crowd.
Outlaw said investigators believe the officer shot the gunman, who is still being sought.
Investigators are combing through security video to identify the suspects and determine a motive for the shooting.
Outlaw said the shooting possibly started during a physical confrontation between two people, including one of the people killed in the incident.
“These individuals eventually began firing at one another with both being struck, one fatally,” Outlaw said.
Outlaw said two of the slain victims were innocent bystanders as well as many of those who were wounded.
One of those killed was identified as Kris Minners, a resident adviser at Girard College in Philadelphia, the Girard College Federation of Teachers union said in a statement. Two more victims were identified by the Philadelphia Police Department Sunday afternoon as 34-year-old Gregory Jackson and 27-year-old Alexis Quinn.
“The loss of Kris reminds us that gun violence can and will touch everyone in our nation as long as our elected officials allow it to continue,” the teachers’ union statement read.
(DETROIT) — An 11-year-old girl was sleeping over at her grandmother’s home when gunfire erupted outside, shooting and killing her, authorities said.
The young girl “was murdered while attending a sleepover with her grandmother in our community,” Detroit Police Chief James White told reporters. “Making TikTok videos and laughing one minute and being shot in the back … the next.”
Two people are in custody — one adult and one minor — following Saturday’s shooting, which took place around 10:15 p.m., Detroit police said.
No one besides the 11-year-old was struck when the shots rang out, police said.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan told reporters, “When you can have an 11-year-old girl in a home with her grandmother and five other children as young as the age of 7, dancing joyously in the house, and have a bullet come through and kill her — it hits you very hard.”
The police chief blamed “irresponsible gun ownership” and “irresponsible use of a weapon.”
“It is of epidemic proportions right now in our country and in our city,” he told reporters.
The 11-year-old’s name has not been released.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the victim’s family and friends at this unimaginable time,” the Detroit Police Department tweeted.
The little girl’s death came amid another weekend of mass shootings in the U.S. Three people were killed and many others injured when multiple people opened fire on a Philadelphia street, and at least three people were killed with others injured in a mass shooting outside a Chattanooga, Tennessee, nightclub.
(NEW YORK) — Over the past decade, the number of children overdosing on melatonin, a sleep aid, has increased by 530%, according to a new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The largest increase, a 38% jump, came in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, which the study’s authors say was likely because more children were spending more time at home.
In 2021 alone, more than 50,000 calls were placed to poison control centers in the United States about melatonin ingestion by kids, the study found.
“Most were unintentional exposure, meaning the parent did not give the child melatonin,” said ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, also a board-certified OBGYN. “So the implication is the child got into it themselves.”
Here are four things for parents to know to help keep kids safe:
1. Melatonin is a widely-accessible supplement.
Melatonin is a hormone that plays a role in sleep, according to the National Institutes of Health.
In the U.S., melatonin supplements are considered dietary supplements, which means they are accessible to the public without the regulations of a prescription drug.
Melatonin supplements come in the form of tablets, capsules, liquid and even gummies, which may make them more attractive to kids.
According to the study’s authors, “Increased sales, availability, and widespread use have likely resulted in increased access and exposure risk among children in the home.”
2. Melatonin has not been widely studied in kids.
There have not yet been enough studies on melatonin and kids to know the full impact of the supplement, according to the NIH.
Even in adults, according to the NIH, the long-term impacts of melatonin are not well-known, even if the supplement does appear to be mostly safe with short-term use.
With kids, because melatonin is a hormone, there is a possibility that taking it by supplement could impact hormonal development like puberty and menstruation, according to the NIH.
3. Melatonin ingestion by a child is a medical emergency.
According to Ashton, when a child ingests melatonin without adult supervision, it is a medical emergency that requires immediate action.
“You either want to bring them to an emergency room or contact a poison control center,” she said.
The phone number to reach a poison control center is 800-222-1222.
Symptoms of melatonin ingestion in kids includes abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, excessive tiredness and labored breathing.
4. Parents should store melatonin out of kids’ reach.
Ashton said parents should keep all medications and supplements, including melatonin, out of the reach of kids, even young teenagers.
Bottle tops should also be kept securely closed, according to Ashton, who encouraged parents to talk to their kids about medication safety.
“You always want to use any medication exposure as an opportunity to really teach that child about medication, that it should only be given by an adult, is not candy and can have consequences both good and bad,” she said.
The CDC also has additional tips HERE for keeping medication safely away from kids.
