The death toll from an Orinda, California Halloween house party increased to five, as another shooting victim has succumbed to their injuries. In response to the tragedy, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has announced that the company is in the process of banning “party houses” on the platform.
In a series of tweets Saturday, Chesky stated, “We are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct, including conduct that leads to the terrible events we saw in Orinda… We must do better, and we will. This is unacceptable.”
Chesky said that the San Francisco-based company will be expanding manual screening of “high risk” reservations and 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 are reported. The Orinda property had house rules against parties. Airbnb says it has removed the listing from the site and banned the person who rented the home.
The owner of the property, Michael Wang, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he rented the home to a woman who claimed she was organizing a 12-person family reunion. After receiving noise complaints from neighbors, Wang checked his home security cameras and observed over a dozen people inside his home and 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,” Wang said. “When we arrived there, the police were already there.”
According to the Washington Post, the shooting happened just before 11 p.m. Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and another died later at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County’s trauma center. A fifth person died in the hospital late Friday night, the sheriff said in a statement. Police have identified the victims of the shooting as Tiyon Farley, 22, Omar Taylor, 24, Ramon Hill Jr., 23, Javin County, 29, and Oshiana Tompkins, 19.
As of late Friday, police have not identified any suspects nor a motive for the shooting. Officers said they found two guns at the house and are trying to determine whether they were used in the shooting or other crimes.
