11 children rushed from Warren home to hospital with suspicious symptoms

WARREN, Mich. (WJBK) - An investigation is underway after 11 children and one adult were rushed to the hospital with suspicious symptoms in Warren. 

One of the kids ran to a neighbor's house on Jewett Street, saying her brother was choking and couldn't breathe. 

Wanda Lee says the little girl ran to her and asked to use her phone. 

"I gave her the phone and said, 'Is everything all right?' She said, 'My brother can't breathe.' I asked how old he was; she said 6. I said, 'Well, I'm a nurse; let me see him."

Luckily Lee was there when the panicked girl ran to her house. The girl called her grandmother while Lee tended to the other children and dialed 911.

Warren Police say when authorities got to the scene, they discovered 11 children under the age of 10 had become very ill, likely poisoned from something inside the house.

"Can't breathe? It's dangerous; it's scary. And no adults anywhere," Lee says.

"Really had me concerned when you see 2- to 5-year-olds being carried on a stretcher, screaming. One of the little boys was terrified. He couldn't have been over 3 or 4, and he doesn't know what's going on," says Robert Bauss. 

Neighbors watched as Warren Police, EMS and fire hazmat crews converged on the scene. All of the kids and one adult were taken to area hospitals. The youngest of them all is 3-months-old, who was initially in critical condition but has been stabilized. 

Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer says investigators are trying to determined what poisoned the children, possibly chemicals or feces that was found all over the inside of the home.

"They weren't well taken care of, from what I could see and from on the outside. They were running around all day; no shoes; dirty clothes; no supervision," Bauss says. 

Lee says, too, she went to the house and didn't see any adults. Police say a relative had already taken four of the children to a hospital. Ambulances rushed the rest.

We're told two different mothers lives there with the 11 children. Neighbors say they had only been there for three weeks but claim it was clear the kids, all under the age of 10, were not being cared for properly.

The police commissioner says both mothers will likely face neglect and abuse charges.

We're told the mothers were with the children at the hospital, but will be questioned in custody.

As of Tuesday morning, Dwyer says the majority of the kids will soon be released from the hospital. Doctors haven't been able to determine yet what caused the symptoms. Toxicology was done on all of the kids, but results haven't been conclusive yet. Dwyer says all of the children will go in to protective services. 

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This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 2 for updates.