DALLAS — A birthday party at a Dallas Airbnb ended with four teens shot, including a 16-year-old who died.
Melissa Vergara lives next door to the home and was at a family reunion out of town Saturday when her phone started repeatedly notifying her of motion in her driveway. Then, her doorbell camera showed a man hobbling.
“He just laid himself right there in the bushes,” she said. “I saw this guy jumping and moving and doing all this and I thought he was drunk but then he says, 'I’m shot can you let me in your home.'”
Dallas police said just before 11 p.m. four teens were shot at the home next door on Pompano Beach Drive in southeastern Dallas. Jahcorian Green, 16, was killed.
“All of this could’ve been avoided,” Vergara said. “There was no need for someone to die and four get shot.”
Vergara said the man asked if he could come inside, but no one was home. All she could do was call police for help.
It wasn’t the first time.
She’s lived in the neighborhood for five years and realized six months ago that her neighbors had sold their home to an Airbnb operator.
“We didn’t know what to expect every weekend,” she said.
Airbnb declined to comment for this story. Vergara said she previously filed a complaint, but Airbnb said it couldn’t help. She said Dallas police typically took hours to respond when she called.
“You come out and you see over here and they’re rolling up a blunt, they’re doing things they’re not supposed to,” she said. “So, I have to take my kids inside, so they won’t be exposed to this.”
Dallas City Council voted in mid-June to ban short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods, but enforcement doesn’t begin until December. Both the police department and codes department have said current staffing prevents them from rapidly responding to calls, and the codes department questioned if enforcement would be possible at all later this year.
Vergara said the only time she’s spoken to the owner was when he needed to collect patio furniture after one renter had thrown it over a dividing fence and into her yard.
“I just feel like if you’re going to be doing Airbnb, be careful who you’re renting your house out to,” Vergara said.
The man who rented the home for the weekend told WFAA the event was supposed to be for his daughter’s birthday and include 10 people.
Vergara is both sad for the loss and frustrated her children are frightened.
“I have to be strong for the kids,” she said. “They can’t see that fear in me.”