A college homecoming celebration in Williamsburg, Virginia, turned into a mass injury scene Friday night when the back deck of a home collapsed during a party near William & Mary’s campus. At least 28 people were injured as emergency crews rushed into the neighborhood, as reported [1] by Fox News.
William & Mary confirmed that students were among those injured at the residence away from campus. City officials said all reported injuries were not life-threatening.
Dispatchers received a report of a structure collapse around 10:07 p.m. in the 200 block of Matoaka Court. Police officers and firefighters who arrived at the property found that the home’s back deck had collapsed, according to the city.
Images from the scene showed a collapsed wooden deck behind police tape at the Williamsburg home. The collapse occurred during homecoming weekend on Oct. 23, 2026.
Emergency crews transported 13 people to hospitals following the collapse. Another 15 people reportedly sought medical treatment on their own, according to an update released by the city Saturday morning.
Neighbors told WAVY that a homecoming party was taking place when the deck suddenly gave way. One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, described a sprawling emergency response that filled the street.
“All the way down the street and wrapped around just ambulances and fire trucks,” the neighbor told WAVY. “We saw a lot of hospital gurneys coming out of ambulances. At least nine ambulances kind of wrapped around the street.”
Joshua Wise, who lives next to the home, told the outlet that some of his classmates were involved in the frightening incident. Wise returned after emergency crews had finished their response, but he learned that his housemate had been helping people.
“Word was traveling pretty fast,” Wise told WAVY. “By the time I got back here, the emergency response was over, but I had a housemate who was helping people, trying to help out as much as possible, drive people home, get people where they needed to be.”
Wise also praised the way neighbors responded after the deck collapse. Residents worked to assist those affected as the neighborhood dealt with the sudden chaos.
“We did everything we could to help each other out, and I think that that’s beautiful,” Wise said.
William & Mary offered support to students injured in the collapse. In a Saturday message to the campus community, senior vice president for student affairs and public safety Ginger Ambler said the university was still collecting information about what happened.
Ambler noted that additional students may have sought medical care beyond those included in the initial count. The university’s message came as city officials continued working with hospitals to determine the total number of people who received treatment.
“We are grateful that none of the injuries were life-threatening,” Ambler wrote.
Staff members across the university’s health, academic and student support offices were working to assist affected students. The university acknowledged that students could respond to the experience in different ways.
“We recognize that such an experience may affect our students deeply and in different ways,” Ambler wrote.
Local police officers and firefighters handled the emergency response at the property. City officials also continued coordinating with area hospitals to confirm how many people were treated following the collapse.
The city’s Codes Compliance Division began evaluating and inspecting the site. Officials did not provide additional findings from that inspection in the information released.
The collapse left dozens of people seeking care after what had begun as a homecoming gathering. While the scene brought ambulances, fire trucks, and hospital gurneys into the neighborhood, officials reported that none of the known injuries were life-threatening.