A TikTok video showing U.S. Marshals aiming guns at the door of a woman while she was inside with her infant is being widely circulated on social media.
The law enforcement officials went to the wrong apartment, according to TikTok user Kada Staples who goes by @yungkadaa on the platform. Staples, who lives in Bradenton, Florida, shared video footage of the incident on Saturday.
The clip, recorded by her Ring camera, included text overlay that read, "When the U.S. Marshals show up to your house and rush you and your newborn baby out, running all through your home telling you they know you are lying and you're hiding someone in there just to find out they're at the wrong apartment," she wrote in the text overlay of the video.
"I'm no cop but I feel like the first thing I would've done is checked the apartment number," she added.
"Me and my newborn baby had guns pointed at us from every direction and they were at the wrong place im shaking they literally could've killed us," she wrote in the post's caption.
'We're Gonna Shoot'
The video starts off with the two law enforcement officials, one wearing a "police" vest, approaching her door with their guns drawn out.
As soon as they identify themselves,Staples, her voice shaking, tells them that she's putting her dog in the cage. Her dog can be heard barking in the background.
"Tell him to come out with his hands up," one of the officers yells to the camera. "We know he's in there. The place is surrounded."
Staples responds by telling them that there is nobody there but the officers continue to point their weapons at the door.
"We're gonna shoot, coming in," says one officer. "Come on out!"
'Hands Up!'
The officers then open the door before the video cuts to another scene, which appears to have taken place a little later. Staples is seen being ushered out of the apartment by another officer while she is holding her 3-month old baby.
"Come on, U.S. Marshals come through the door!" one of the armed officers screams. "Hands up!"
Staples cries and tries to explain that there is no one inside the house.
After looking into her apartment, the officers are heard saying, "You're all right. You're good," before moving on to the lower floor of the unit. The video then shows Staples, still crying as she returns to her door. "You guys came to the wrong apartment," she tells the officers before the video ends.
US Marshals Claim They Saw a Man Fitting Suspect's Description Near Staples' Unit
The U.S. Marshals Service told FOX 13 News that Staples' apartment was never their target, but the team saw a man matching the suspect's description near her unit. In a statement, the U.S. Marshals Service said the team saw a man matching their suspect's description enter the breezeway adjacent to Staples' unit. They claim they were "engaged by a woman in [Staples' unit]" but that officers never entered her unit.
However, the video from Staples' doorbell camera shows U.S. Marshals appear to have approached the door and then held the door open before realizing they were at the wrong apartment. The U.S. Marshals Service says they arrested the suspect, Shamar Johnson, inside a nearby apartment.
