Airbnb Boss Reacts to Party That Left 5 People Dead

'We must do better, and we will,' tweets Brian Chesky
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 2, 2019 2:32 PM CDT
Airbnb Boss Bans 'Party Houses'
Contra Costa County Sheriff deputies investigate a multiple shooting in Orinda, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019.   (Ray Chavez/East Bay Times via AP)

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, the AP reports. 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, an insider tells the AP. 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 source. 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. (An LA-area Halloween party also erupted in gunfire.)

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