Airbnb is cracking down on unauthorized parties following a deadly shooting at a Halloween bash in a California rental home.
Five people died after Thursday gunfire sent some 100 revelers running for their lives in the San Francisco suburb of Orinda, according to the Associated Press.
The four-bedroom home at 114 Lucille Way—now a crime scene—was rented on Airbnb by a woman who claimed her dozen family members had asthma and needed to escape smoke from a wildfire.
A blaze in Sonoma County, about 60 miles north of Orinda, was reported earlier in the week.
Though suspicious of a one-night rental on Halloween, homeowner Michael Wang agreed—reminding the renter that no parties were allowed.
Wang reportedly reached out to the tenant Thursday night, after neighbors tipped him off about a party: The renter asserted there were only a dozen people at the house, but Wang could see more on video from his doorbell camera.
“We called the police,” Wang told the San Francisco Chronicle. “They were on the way to go there and stop them, but before we got there, the neighbor already sent us a message saying there was a shooting.”
By the time Wang and his wife arrived, police were already on the scene.
No arrests have been made, and there is no word on a motive for the attack. Two guns were found at the property.
Authorities identified the five victims as Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Ramon Hill Jr., 23, of San Francisco and Oakland; Javin County, 29, of Sausalito and Richmond; and Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo and Hercules.
Orinda requires short-term rental hosts to register with the city annually and pay an occupancy tax, the AP explained. Maximum occupancy is 13 people.
In a series of tweets, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky promised to ban “party houses” and expand efforts to remove abusive conduct.
“First, we are expanding manual screening of high-risk reservations flagged by our risk-detection technology,” he wrote. “Second, we are creating a dedicated ‘party house’ rapid response team. Third, we are taking immediate action against users who violate these enhanced guest policies, including removal.”
The new team, under direction from Margaret Richardson, will initiate a “10-day sprint” to review and accelerate the development and implementation of these new safety initiatives.
“We must do better, and we will,” Chesky said. “This is unacceptable.”
It isn’t the first time an Airbnb rental has proved fatal: Earlier this year, a host in Melbourne, Australia, admitted to killing a guest who could not afford to pay their bill.
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