Particle.news

U.S. Marshals Fall When Second-Floor Deck Collapses During Warrant Service

Officials released bodycam footage showing injured officers and called the collapse an apparent structural accident that highlights risks in fugitive-apprehension operations.

Overview

  • Video obtained by NBC and published this week shows a wooden second-story deck at a Huntsville, Missouri, apartment detaching and collapsing beneath nine task force members, sending them several feet to the ground.
  • Five officers were hospitalized with broken bones, torn muscles or concussions and are recovering, though the U.S. Marshals Service said a few may face longer-term effects.
  • The team was executing a list of roughly 30 warrants as part of Operation Adam’s Watch when the July 21 incident occurred, officials said.
  • The subject of the warrant, Jacob Alexander Munoz, a 26-year-old convicted in 2022 of possessing child pornography and listed on Missouri’s sex-offender registry, was not present during the collapse and surrendered later that day.
  • U.S. Marshals officials said there were no accidental gun discharges, credited officers’ training, and noted the footage has prompted attention to on-scene structural safety and potential follow-up reviews of raid procedures and building conditions.