PLANO, Texas — A neighborhood in Plano is outraged and terrified after a house party at a short-term rental property ended with more than 25 gunshots fired early Sunday morning.
One family woke up to find that a stray bullet had ricocheted through their front room, where their three-year-old daughter often plays and reads.
Her mother, Zoey Sanchez, told WFAA Monday night that it's time for the City of Plano to impose common-sense regulations for short-term rentals. The city has been mulling over them for months but hasn't touched the topic since a vote was tabled in November.
"This was like, our dream to have the perfect house and to raise our baby in a safe and quiet area close to our parents," Sanchez said. "I don't think I've fully processed what could have been taken away from me."
The short-term rental where the shooting occurred is in the 2000 block of Cannes Dr.
Following the gunshots, neighbors called the police. When officers arrived promptly on the scene, they made two arrests. The charges, however, were unrelated to the shooting. Police are still trying to identify who opened fire and why.
James Horton, 24, of Fort Worth, is charged with evading and possession of marijuana.
Trinity Banks,18, of Fort Worth, is charged with interference with public duties.
Inside Sanchez's home, the mother showed WFAA several bullet holes in her front room, indicating how much the stray bullet ricocheted.
"We had a guardian angel looking after us," Sanchez said. "I heard multiple gunshots and immediately knew someone was shooting near the house. I didn't realize how many it was until I saw the doorbell video."
That video was given to WFAA, and you can't see much. However, you can hear three instances of gunfire in under a minute which unfolds just before 2 AM. Cars can be seen leaving the area after the gunfire.
"I don't like to cry, but it freaks me out," Sanchez said. "My daughter is always here under this window."
The property is listed on both VRBO and Airbnb. The owner of the property told WFAA the booking for the weekend was made through VRBO.
WFAA has reached out to VRBO for a comment.
Airbnb responded to WFAA with the following statement: "We looked into this and there was no Airbnb reservation at that address over the weekend. We did find that there were reservation attempts that were blocked by Airbnb’s reservation screening technologies, which are designed to block reservations potentially indicative of a party."
The listing says the home can hold 16+ guests with five bedrooms, seven beds, and three bathrooms.
The owner told WFAA she feels terrible about what happened and is pulling the home off VRBO and Airbnb until further notice. The owner also said that she's contemplating legal action against VRBO.
At Plano's regular city council meeting Monday night, neighbors who live along the street spoke publicly to demand more be done against short-term rentals. Some asked them to be banned entirely, but some cities have tried that unsuccessfully.
A zoning ordinance already exists prohibiting hotels, motels, boarding houses, and B&Bs in single-family residential areas.
However, city officials said last year that STRs don't explicitly fall under those outlined definitions, making the ordinance hard to enforce.
In September 2022, police busted an alleged sex trafficking ring operating out of a short-term rental.
Last year, the council considered requiring short-term rental property owners to register with the city or get a license so that its code enforcement office and police could better enforce nuisance violations with fines and fees.
The vote to approve those considerations was tabled to procure more data about how other cities deal with short-term rentals per city officials. The city is also looking at a third party to track short-term rental data in connection to those new regulations.
On Monday night, council members asked that the issue of short-term rentals be added to discussions at the next regularly scheduled council meeting.
For Sanchez, homeowners are afraid. Those who have their roots in for the long haul worry about new neighbors every weekend.
"What's going to happen next weekend?" Sanchez asked. "We live with the repercussions of their (short-term rental owners) actions. Not them."