Carnage unfolded overnight during an Airbnb rental home party with five people being wounded, including a juvenile, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The gunfire started about 3 a.m. in the backyard and extended into the home on Arlingwood Avenue near Mill Creek Road on Dec. 20, the Sheriff’s Office said. An argument at the gathering of about 20 people led to the shooting. The five victims were two women in their early 20s, shot in a thigh and arm, two men also in their early 20s, both shot in a leg, and a 16-year-old shot in the back. The gender of the teen was not provided. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening.
The shooter was a male with no specific description as of the Sheriff’s Office’s initial briefing. Several people were detained to learn more.
The shooting comes as Airbnb is marking the five-year anniversary of its global ban on disruptive parties and will again activate anti-party technology across the country in the days around New Year’s Eve.
In Jacksonville approximately 90 people were deterred from booking an entire home listing on Airbnb around this time last year, according to the home rental business. Since introducing the ban in 2020, in Florida there’s been a 46% decrease in the rate of party reports to Airbnb and 99.9% of reservations had no report of a party-related community disturbance in 2024.
Anyone with information in the case can contact the Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630-0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous and be eligible for rewards at First Coast Crime Stoppers, call (866) 845-8477 (845-TIPS), text **8477 or email rewards@fccrimestoppers.com. Crime Stoppers recently increased its base reward to $5,000.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Overnight carnage ends with 5 shot at Jacksonville Airbnb party