The Schenectady Police Department is investigating five suspected fatal drug overdoses in three days, including four on Tuesday.

The department reported two deaths from Tuesday morning and one from Sunday afternoon in the Hamilton Hill area before sending out another press statement announcing two additional overdoses in the Central State Street neighborhood on Tuesday evening.

Police say the deaths from Sunday and Tuesday morning were possibly caused by both injectable and smokable substances. The two individuals that died Tuesday night were located together and possibly snorted or inhaled a substance, police said.

Authorities are testing the substance.

Last month, eight people ranging from their 20s to 60s died from drug-related overdoses in the city in just a week, according to police.

According to New York’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports, the opioid overdose death rate has more than quadrupled over the last decade in New York. In 2022, 5,413 New Yorkers died due to opioid-related overdoses, roughly one death for every two hours.

New York is distributing $2.6 billion over 18 years to confront the opioid epidemic. It received the funding through lawsuits against companies involved in the manufacturing, distribution and prescription of opioids. So far, $64 million has gone to local municipalities.

Schenectady County offers Naloxone training. Call its Office of Community Services for more details.