Man Fatally Shot At Birthday Party At Airbnb In Davenport

POLK COUNTY, FL — A weekend birthday party at an Airbnb rental home in Davenport ended with a 27-year-old Orlando man shot to death and a 26-year-old Sanford woman wounded around 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning, according to the Polk County Sheriff's office.

Both victims were taken to Osceola Regional Medical Center. The man was died at the hospital and the woman was treated and released.

According to witnesses, the man who was killed walked out to the street and spoke to someone in a vehicle. The person in the vehicle then shot the man in the front of the house, as well as the woman who was attending the party.

The driver of the vehicle then fled the subdivision and was last seen heading north toward Osceola Polk Line Road.

"We are looking for the suspect or suspects who took the life of this 27-year-old-young man and injured this young woman," said Sheriff Grady Judd. "We ask anyone who has information about the identity or location of those responsible to call Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS (8477). There is a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. We need to get them into custody."

"Our deepest condolences go out to all who were impacted by this senseless violence," said Airbnb spokeswoman Ruthie Wabula in a statement to Patch. "We are investigating this incident, and have also reached out to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to offer our support with their investigation."

She said Airbnb has confirmed that this was an unauthorized party, meaning the host was not aware and did not consent to it.

"We deploy a number of measures and resources to tackle disruptive and unauthorized parties, which are banned on Airbnb, including:

• Codifying our global party ban last year.
• Deploying reservation screening, designed to reduce the risk of disruptive parties by identifying and preventing certain potential higher-risk reservations days like Memorial Day, Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve.
• Our Neighborhood Support Line enables neighbors to speak directly to us with urgent concerns about a nearby listing, like a potential party in progress.
• Our 24-hour safety line allows Hosts and guests to quickly reach our specialized Safety team for help, such as to report an unauthorized party, during an active stay.
• Tips for Hosts on how to help prevent parties in their listing.
• Consequences for violations of our policies, up to removal from our community."