ST. LOUIS COUNTY – U.S. Marshals were fired upon and returned fire while trying to conduct an arrest in St. Louis County Monday morning, leading to an hours-long standoff and the death of a suspect.
Task Force officers were serving a warrant in the 10300 block of Durness when the suspect fired shots at officers as they exited their vehicles.
One officer was taken to a hospital but has since been released. A St. Louis County Police Department spokesperson said the officer was struck by something, but they do not yet know if he was shot. He was wearing a protective vest at the time of the incident.
U.S. Marshals returned fire on the suspect. When the standoff came to an end, officers discovered the suspect, William Watson, was killed during the incident. According to a St. Louis County Police Department spokesperson, Marshals were carrying out a warrant for a felony domestic abuse charge. He was wanted in questioning for a shooting by St. Louis County, according to the police spokesman.
A gun was recovered at the scene and he was wearing a ballistic vest at the time of the incident.
The officer who was shot is a 32-year-old man with 10 years of law enforcement experience with the St. Charles County Police Department, and has been detached to the US Marshals Service for about one year. The other officer who returned fire is a 44-year-old man with 23 years of law enforcement experience with the St. Louis County Police and has been detached to the US Marshals Service for about six years.
U.S. Marshals are the enforcement arm of the federal court system.They are in charge of federal courthouse security, catching federal fugitives, transporting federal prisoners, and protecting government witnesses.
U.S. Marshals also support state and local authorities in some cases.
