70 or more individuals at Jonestown were injected with poison, & 1/3rd of the victims were minors. Guards armed with firearms & crossbows had been ordered to shoot anyone who attempted to flee the settlement as Jones lobbied for suicide.
Discussion
The concoction was prepared with the help of Jonestown’s in-house doctor, Larry Schacht, a Texan native & former methamphetamine addict who got sober with the help of Jones, who subsequently paid for his college education to become a doctor. Schacht had been researching the best ways for a person to die in advance of the foreseen mass suicide.
The poison caused death within five minutes for children, less for babies, & an estimated 20–30 minutes for adults.