Airbnb bans house parties after California Halloween shooting

Airbnb has announced a crackdown on "party houses" just days after four young men and a woman were shot at a California property rented through the site.

Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb, tweeted late Saturday that the site was cracking down on unauthorised parties the shootings at a Halloween party held at a home in Orinda, near San Francisco.

The host of the party had rented the site through Airbnb and told owners that she was holding an event for 12 people, when in fact more than 100 people attended.

In a statement, the Contra Costa Sheriff's Department describe chaotic scenes at the house, including gunshot victims, injured party-goers and others fleeing the scene. 

Following the shooting, Chesky announced that the company would expand “manual screening of high risk reservations” and “ taking immediate action against users who violate these enhanced guest policies, including removal.”

He also said the site would be setting up a “dedicated party house rapid response team”, but did not explain what form this team would take or what action it would take. Euronews has reached out to Airbnb for clarity on this.

“We must do better, and we will,” Chesky concluded.