St. Joseph County Police say they’ve seen a disturbing trend of people renting out homes to throw parties, and they’re asking property owners to be more careful with who they rent to.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The audio version of this story contains sounds of gunshots.
At about 1 a.m. Saturday in the 52000 block of Grape Road, police responded to reports of shots fired.
That’s a video from the home’s doorbell camera. It shows several people firing shots as they run into the house.
Police this week shared to Facebook a video from the home’s doorbell camera that shows several people firing shots as they run into the house. They're asked the public’s help identifying the man firing the shots.
Capt. Aaron Santa says someone was injured in a fight at the party but no one was shot.
Santa says over the past year police have seen a trend where local people rent homes, both privately and through short-term rental platforms like AirBnb, and throw parties that disturb neighbors and worse. Santa asked property owners who do this to install exterior cameras to help police investigate if things go wrong. They also say you should be cautious about renting to local people for one night only, and give neighbors a heads-up.
"Tell your neighbors this," Santa says. "If they see something that looks suspicious, or a large party or gathering goes late into the night, call us, we can always come check it out and make sure everything's on the up-and-up."
