Bootheel man electrocuted by fence touching energized building

CAMPBELL, Mo. — A 19-year-old Campbell man died Tuesday evening from electrocution due to faulty wiring in a metal shed outside his home.

According to witnesses who spoke with Campbell police chief Weldon Wallace, Jose Torres, 19, was outside of his home between 11 and 11:30 p.m. when he walked across the wet grass in the backyard of his residence to retrieve his shirt, which he had previously removed and draped across a fence that lined the perimeter of his property.

Witnesses said that as Torres made contact with the fence, he was electrocuted as a result of electricity flowing through the fence which was, in one area, lying against a metal work shed that had apparently experienced a malfunction in its wiring, causing the wiring to short out, producing a current that carried over into the metal fence.

Witnesses contacted authorities at the Dunklin County Sheriff's Department who relayed the information to the Campbell Police Department.

Officers arrived at Torres' home at East Haynes Street in Campbell and found him lying on the ground in his backyard encircled by a number of people attempting to administer CPR.

Once ambulances arrived on scene, Torres was transported to Piggott Community Hospital in Piggott, Ark.

At 12:47 a.m., representatives of the hospital contacted the Campbell Police Department requesting it get in touch with the Dunklin County coroner.