Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Airbnb Bans 'Party Houses' After California Shooting Kills 5
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
November 4, 2019

Share

ORINDA — Airbnb’s CEO said the company was taking actions against unauthorized 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 Saturday 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, the person with knowledge of the transaction told The Associated Press. 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 the person with knowledge of the transaction, who was not authorized to publicly disclose the information and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

There Was No Immediate Word on a Motive for the Attack

The owner, Michael Wang, said his wife reached out to the renter Thursday night after neighbors 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 neighbor already sent us a message saying there was a shooting,” he told the Chronicle.
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 Friday evening 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, late Friday night, 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 told The East Bay Times.
Laneisha Epps, his stepmother, told KGO-TV, that the family is 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 DJ’ing was his happiness, I don’t even think he was going in thinking there was trouble or anything.”

Photo of Contra Costa County Sheriff deputies investigation a shooting in Orinda
Contra Costa County Sheriff deputies investigate a multiple shooting in Orinda, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. Four people were killed and four others wounded in a Halloween night party shooting at a large rental home in a wealthy San Francisco Bay Area community, police said Friday. The shooting in the city of about 20,000 just east of Berkeley, happened at a party attended by 100 people said police chief David Cook. (Ray Chavez/East Bay Times via AP)

Airbnb Is ‘Urgently Investigating’ What Happened

Omari Taylor told KGO that his brother worked as a DJ to help support his young daughter. “He was a good man. If he was here right now, he’d want everyone to stay strong,” Taylor said.
“He wanted to be successful in everything and he wanted to care of everyone, take care of his children’s children. That’s what his plan was,” Taylor told the TV station.
Other people were wounded by gunshots or injured in the panic that followed, authorities said.
The party at the four-bedroom house apparently was advertised on social media as an “Airbnb mansion party.”
Orinda, with a population of about 20,000, requires short-term rental hosts to register with the city annually and pay an occupancy tax. The maximum occupancy is 13 people.
Orinda city documents show officials issued violations in March for exceeding the home’s maximum occupancy and illegal parking. City Manager Steve Salomon said the homeowner had resolved previous complaints lodged in February over occupancy and noise and in July over overflowing trash.
Airbnb is “urgently investigating” what happened, spokesman Ben Breit said in an email.
Airbnb has banned the renter from its platform and the home has been removed as a listing, he said.

The Screaming Seemed to Last Forever

One attendee said he was enjoying the music and watching people dance when he heard shots and people started running.

“Everybody started running, scrambling. People were just collapsing and friends were helping friends. It was a scary situation and then as everyone is panicking and stuff, there were more shots.” — Devan, party attendee 
The screaming seemed to last forever, said Devan, who asked that his last name not be used because he feared for his safety.
“Everybody started running, scrambling,” he said. “People were just collapsing and friends were helping friends. It was a scary situation and then as everyone is panicking and stuff, there were more shots.”
Devan shot a video posted to Instagram that showed a wounded man on the ground and a police officer standing over him and a woman saying she needs to go to the hospital “because my hand’s been blown off.”
On Friday, police tape surrounded the block as people came to collect their cars and other belongings. One woman in tears told reporters the father of her child had been killed. She left before giving her name.
Romond Reynolds picked up the car of his son, 24-year-old Armani Reynolds, who he said was left comatose by the shooting.
“All I know is that he’s a victim and was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Reynolds said.
Neighbor Shahram Saki, 61, said in a phone interview that some fleeing partygoers hid in the bushes in his front yard and others begged to be let into his home.
“They were screaming for help. I told them, ‘You gotta get out of here,'” Saki said. “I was scared to death, anything could have happened.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

Gov. Newsom Lambasts Trump for Giving Immigrants’ Health Data to Deportation Officials

Person Rescued from Fresno Canal, Third Incident in Recent Days

2 hours ago

Arias Dodges Questions About His False Fresno ICE Raid Claim

2 hours ago

Trump Says Everyone Should Immediately Evacuate Tehran

President Donald Trump on Monday urged everyone to immediately evacuate Tehran, and reiterated that Iran should have signed a nuclear deal w...

7 minutes ago

A view of the cityscape in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
7 minutes ago

Trump Says Everyone Should Immediately Evacuate Tehran

1 hour ago

Inside Trump’s Extraordinary Turnaround on Immigration Raids

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

Trump Approval Steady at 42%, Support Weakens for His Immigration Policy, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

A person was rescued from a Fresno canal Monday, June 16, 2025, near Dakota and Ninth Street, marking the third such incident in recent days, officials said. (Fresno FD)
2 hours ago

Person Rescued from Fresno Canal, Third Incident in Recent Days

2 hours ago

Arias Dodges Questions About His False Fresno ICE Raid Claim

3 hours ago

Iranian State TV Halts Live Broadcast After Israeli Strike

Smoke rises following what Iran says was an Israeli attack on Sharan Oil depot in Tehran, Iran, June 16, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
3 hours ago

Global Markets Recover on Iran Ceasefire Reports, Central Banks in Focus

The crest of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo
4 hours ago

Madera Man Sentenced to Over 21 Years for Fentanyl, Meth Trafficking

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend