Airbnb bans party houses after Calif shooting
Guests who fail to comply with policies will be removed & delisted: CEO
Orinda, Nov. 3: Airbnb’s CEO said the company was taking actions against unauthorised parties in the wake of a deadly shooting at a Halloween party held at an Airbnb rental home in California. In a series of tweets, Brian Chesky said the San Francisco-based company is expanding manual screening of “high risk” reservations and will remove guests who fail to comply with policies banning parties at Airbnb rental homes. He also said the company is forming a “rapid response team” when complaints of unauthorized parties come in. “We must do better, and we will. This is unacceptable,” he tweeted.
Five people died after a Thursday night shooting that sent some 100 terrified partygoers running for their lives in the San Francisco suburb of Orinda.
The four-bedroom home had been rented on Airbnb by a woman who told the owner her dozen family members had asthma and needed to escape smoke from a wildfire. A fire burning in Sonoma County about 60 miles north of Orinda earlier in the week fouled the air
over a wide area. The owner was suspicious of a one-night rental on Halloween and before agreeing reminded the renter that no parties were allowed, said a person. The owner, Michael Wang, said his wife reached out to the renter after neighbours contacted them about the party. The renter said there were only a dozen people at the home but Wang said he could see more people on video from his doorbell camera.
“We called the police. They were on the way to go there to stop them, but before we got there the neighbour already sent us a message saying there was a shooting,” he said.
No arrests had been made and there was no immediate word on a motive for the attack. Two guns were found at the property, authorities said.
Three people, all from the Bay Area, died at the scene and a fourth died at the hospital, authorities initially said.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff ’s Office identified them as Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Ramon Hill Jr., 23; and Javin County, 29. The sheriff’s office identified a fifth victim, 19-year-old Oshiana Tompkins of Vallejo and Hercules, saying she died at a hospital.
Taylor’s father, Omar Taylor Sr., said his son was hired to play music at the party. “Wrong place, wrong time,” he said .
Laneisha Epps, his stepmother, stated that the family was devastated. “I personally think this was a senseless, careless act. It’s such a traumatic experience the family is taking on now,” Epps said. “Music and DJing was his happiness, I don’t even think he was going in thinking there was trouble or anything.”
Airbnb is “urgently investigating” what happened, spokesman Ben Breit said in an email. Airbnb has banned the renter and home removed as a listing.