A college homecoming celebration turned into a chaotic emergency Friday night after a back deck collapsed at a home in Williamsburg, Virginia, injuring at least 28 people and bringing emergency crews to the neighborhood.
William & Mary said students were among those hurt at the off-campus residence. City officials reported that all injuries were non-life-threatening.
A structure collapse was reported to dispatchers at about 10:07 p.m. in the 200 block of Matoaka Court. Police officers and firefighters arrived to find that the home’s rear deck had given way, according to the city.
A collapsed wooden deck sits behind police tape at a Williamsburg, Virginia, home after a homecoming party incident injured at least 28 people Oct. 23, 2026. (City of Williamsburg)
Thirteen people were transported to hospitals by emergency crews, while 15 others reportedly obtained medical treatment on their own, the city said in an update Saturday morning.
Neighbors told WAVY that a homecoming gathering was in progress when the deck collapsed. One resident said emergency vehicles filled the surrounding streets.
“All the way down the street and wrapped around just ambulances and fire trucks,” the neighbor, who requested anonymity, told WAVY. “We saw a lot of hospital gurneys coming out of ambulances. At least nine ambulances kind of wrapped around the street.”
A view of William & Mary’s campus in Williamsburg, Virginia. The university confirmed students were among those injured when a deck collapsed at an off-campus home Oct. 23, 2026. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Joshua Wise, a neighbor who lives next to the home, told the outlet that some of his classmates were involved. When he returned after the emergency response had ended, he learned that his housemate had been helping people get home.
“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 said neighbors rallied to support one another after the collapse.
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“We did everything we could to help each other out and I think that that’s beautiful,” he said.
William & Mary offered support to students injured in an off-campus deck collapse during homecoming weekend. (Alex Perry/Virginia Gazette/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In a message sent to the campus community Saturday, Ginger Ambler, William & Mary’s senior vice president for student affairs and public safety, said university officials were continuing to collect information. She cautioned that additional students may have received treatment beyond those included in the initial count.
“We are grateful that none of the injuries were life-threatening,” Ambler wrote.
College of William & Mary on Monday, October 25, 2021, in Williamsburg, Virginia. (Getty Images)
Ambler said employees from the university’s health, academic and student support offices were working to help the affected students.
“We recognize that such an experience may affect our students deeply and in different ways,” Ambler wrote.
Wise also commended the first responders who handled the incident.
“Thank goodness for the emergency responders,” he told WAVY. “They were great. The ambulances and everything got here pretty fast.”
Local police and firefighters responded, and city officials were working with area hospitals to confirm the total number of people treated.
The city’s Codes Compliance Division is evaluating and inspecting the site.