Gunfire at Broad Ripple Airbnb; Neighbors say Indy Needs to do More

At least one person fired shots at an Airbnb party in Broad Ripple on Tuesday. A man captured the gunfire on camera.

A large two-story wooden house with a porch and a silver car parked in the driveway, surrounded by trees and a grassy lawn. — Source: FOX 59

INDIANAPOLIS — Residents of the Warfleigh neighborhood in Broad Ripple were rattled on Tuesday after a shooting early in the morning at an Airbnb party.

Security camera footage provided by a resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, captured rapid gunfire a little after 1 a.m. Witnesses said they saw teens scramble and flee the home.

A neighbor called police, and when cops showed up, they discovered bullet casing littering the street. The shooting happened at an Airbnb along the canal. FOX59/CBS4 later found crews in the area cleaning up damage like broken glass.

“Just within earshot of where we’re standing right here, there’s probably five, maybe six Airbnbs,” one neighbor told FOX59/CBS4. “That’s a lot for a small neighborhood.”

That neighbor asked FOX59/CBS4 not to use his name but said he believes the short-term rentals listed on Airbnb and Vrbo have gotten out of control. He added that they’re often being used for parties that devolve into violence.

“This felt very eerily similar to what happened just 10 blocks south of us here at 40th and Park,” he said.

It was at a short-term rental near that intersection where a woman was killed and two others were wounded during a shootout at an after-prom party.

The neighbor said that incident as well as this most recent one are evidence that the City of Indianapolis’ current short-term rental registry isn’t working.

“The short-term rental license is a joke,” the neighbor said. “$150, and you never have to pay for a renewal or whatever isn’t going to deter anyone or have anyone think twice.”

The neighbor FOX59/CBS4 spoke with, and others, said they’d like to see the City crack down on parties and the landlords renting out their homes to them.

“The fact that it happened here just last night shows that I think people who are renting,” he said. “These are maybe getting a little more brazen about it set the time to do something about it is now.”