TULSA, Okla — The Tulsa Police Department is investigating a shooting early Sunday morning at a party held at an Airbnb.
Police received multiple calls about shots heard at the home near Easton and Xenophon in west Tulsa around 3:45 a.m. around the same time officers responded to a call about a shooting victim at a nearby gas station. Investigators say the house where the shooting happened was rented out as an Airbnb and several people were detained for questioning.
Police say several dozen shots were fired and four guns were found by officers afterward. The victim had a grazing wound on his head and is expected to recover from his injuries, police say.
Police say there had been a party going on earlier, but they're still trying to find out what led up to the shooting.
A 16-year-old boy and 20-year-old Chazen Rogers are in custody on complaints of Shooting with Intent to Kill.
Police say Rogers could be seen in a video shooting at the victim's car.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Tulsa Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.
Courtney Bolt lives next door to the house, she said it was shocking having this happen so close to home.
She woke up in the middle of the night when she heard yelling outside, “directly after that I heard what sounded to me like fireworks," Bolt said. "Our entire block was blocked off by law enforcement. They all had their big spotlights on and I saw some of the officers had you know those big shields and that they have and like helmets and stuff on. I mean it looked like a movie it was really scary.”
Bolt said she isn't sure she feels safe in her neighborhood but has hope that the community can come together to talk about how to make it safe again. Some neighbors tell me they haven’t had any problems with this particular house in the past but have had concerns about others.
2 News wanted to know more about how Tulsa regulates short-term rentals so we talked with City Councilor Kara Joy McKee who represents this area of Tulsa. In July 2020, the City of Tulsa adopted a short-term rental ordinance as a way for the city to keep track of Airbnbs and regulate how they are used.
To be compliant, an owner must get a license to run an Airbnb.
“The license means that we at the city are monitoring what they are doing and have made sure that they are in compliance with all the rules that they are connected with their neighborhood and that they are connected with the City of Tusla," Councilor McKee said. She says one of the main goals is to prevent Airbnbs from being used as party houses.
She says the ordinance is managed by an employee who works in the neighborhoods on code compliance.
“It is the responsibility of an Airbnb to make sure that they are in compliance, that they are renting to the right number of people, that the right number of cars are allowed there and that it does not become a party house and that’s what we are seeing are some party houses. That’s not what Airbnbs are intended to be,” McKee said.
If an Airbnb owner gets three strikes, their license is revoked.
“Neighbors can report issues and we have a code compliance officer who goes out there, who monitors, who can go out at odd hours not just your regular 9 to 5 to make sure that these Airbnb are in compliance,” said McKee.
She says while the ordinance is new, they’ll make adjustments as needed.
Councilor McKee also says this isn’t the first time they’ve had issues with Airbnbs in the Owen Park neighborhood and she is working to see how they can resolve those problems.
2 News tried several times to interview the host but they declined to comment. Airbnb put out a statement condemning the violence and said the guest of the home has been banned from its platform.
In Airbnb's statement, they say the host of this property specifically bans parties and did not know about the event: “Airbnb bans parties [airbnb.com] and we condemn this senseless violence, which has no place in the Airbnb community. We have banned this guest from our platform.”
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