Mom arrested after 3-year-old overdoses on meth

At approximately 8 p.m., Vancouver Police were dispatched to an apartment located in the 4000 block of Northeast 109th Street concerning a three-year-old child. According to law enforcement, the child had experienced a drug overdose, and the grandmother administered two doses of Narcan to restore the child's breathing.

The individual who was fatally shot by authorities during a hostage situation in Happy Valley on Monday has been identified.

Upon arrival, officers found the mother, later identified as Summer Justice Ward, 27, in a bedroom with the child and were met with her refusal to permit medical responders entry. Subsequently, law enforcement forcibly entered the room and facilitated the child's transfer to emergency medical services.

Jenny Cerdena, a nearby resident, commented, "My daughter actually has a friend who lives next door to the people that happened to, and I was like, ‘Well text your friend and see if she knows anything.’ And all she was able to say was that there was a child or toddler that was taken by ambulance, but they didn’t let the parents go. That’s when I was like something bad happened if they didn’t let the parents go."

The child was transported to a medical facility. During a search of Ward, authorities discovered a plastic bag containing a white powder substance and foil concealed in her attire. The substance tested positive for methamphetamine.

Cerdena further remarked, "How would you have that around your children or be in the same household or even doing it around them? It’s just, I can’t imagine it’s horrible."

Both the three-year-old and Ward's other child, a two-year-old, were placed under protective custody.

Ward was apprehended on charges including endangerment involving a controlled substance, criminal mistreatment, resisting arrest, obstructing law enforcement officers, and possession of a controlled substance.

This marked the second incident of drug ingestion by a small child that the Vancouver Police Department responded to on Thursday.