BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Neighbors in the College Hills community report that a shooting at an Airbnb left homes and cars struck by bullets. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but neighbors are angry and are demanding that the city impose stricter regulations on Airbnb rentals.
Reginald Childress, whose family has lived in College Hills since 1965, said the shooting lasted nearly 10 minutes and left about 5 bullets in his home. One of the bullets landed just inches from his 96-year-old mother’s bed, and one even pierced the wire of her pacemaker.
Childress explained: “There was an argument and then there were gunshots for about five to ten minutes.”
He described the scene on August 10 as a war zone right across from his house. The incident happened around 2:30 a.m. and he could only fall to the ground.
“When we had a break, I got up to check on my mother and brother,” he said.
Childress and his siblings care for their 96-year-old mother and he stressed that the bullets almost led to tragedy.
“I saw this guy and he turned toward our house with a gun. The gun had a switch and he was firing so fast. Bullets were flying through the house,” he said.
He stressed that this type of violence was unusual in their neighborhood.
“We moved here in 1965 and our parents and we have worked hard to maintain this property,” Childress explains. “It’s a quiet area; the loudest is the weekend of the Magic City Classic. We don’t have any shootings or fights during that time.”
Now Childress wants the city to impose stricter regulations on Airbnb rentals.
“If they rent something, it’s not just for a weekend. There needs to be more information about each renter. There needs to be an age limit,” Childress says. “Young people need to stop shooting each other and the violence needs to stop. If you want to party, party, but leave the guns at home.”
When asked for comment, an Airbnb spokesperson issued the following statement regarding the incident:
“We condemn the reported behavior, which has no place on our platform. We immediately deleted a guest account after this incident was reported to us, are supporting the host, and stand ready to assist Birmingham Police with further investigations. Parties are prohibited on Airbnb, and we continually invest in measures to enforce this policy and prevent isolated incidents.”
Birmingham police filed a shooting report on August 11 involving two occupied homes and seven vehicles, but investigators say they do not know what led to the shooting and no one is currently in custody.
Get news alerts in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our email newsletter here.
All rights reserved.
