At least nine people were injured, including juveniles, early Sunday in a shooting at a large birthday party at an Airbnb rental house in a suburb of Akron, Ohio, according to police.
The shooting occurred just after midnight in Bath Township, about 15 miles northwest of Akron, at the short-term rental property, where a “significant crowd” was gathered for a party that had been promoted on social media, Bath Township Police Chief Vito Sinopoli said at a news conference Sunday morning.
A mix of both adults and juveniles were injured in the shooting and taken to area hospitals, Sinopoli said. He said the victims’ conditions were not immediately known.
Bath Township, Ohio, Police Chief Vito Sinopoli (left) briefs reporters at a news conference, November 2, 2025, on a shooting at an Airbnb rental property in which nine people were injured.
WEWS-TV
Most of the victims suffered gunshot wounds, though at least one was injured in a fall while apparently attempting to flee the home, according to Sinopoli.
Bath Township detectives, with the assistance of the Ohio Bureau of Investigation, are combing through video and interviewing witnesses to identify suspects involved in the shooting, Sinopoli said, adding that no arrests had yet been made.
“We don’t have a clear indication yet of the number of individuals who may have been responsible, but we did confirm there were multiple shell casings within the residence,” he said.
Police began receiving reports about shots being fired inside the residence around 12:16 a.m., according to the police chief.
“Upon arrival, our officers were met with a chaotic scene and administered lifesaving aid to the injured,” Sinopoli said. “We can confirm that a large party was taking place at this location, which we learned was advertised on various social media platforms.”
It remained unclear how many people attended the party, Sinopoli said, also noting that numerous vehicles had been parked along roads in the neighborhood and that people fled the scene when the gunfire started.
“As I understand it, the social media post advertised a birthday party that was supposed to have started at 9:30 [p.m.] on November 1,” Sinopoli said.
Preliminary evidence, according to Sinopoli, indicates the “majority of the shots fired were on the first floor of the residence.”
Most of those attending the party were juveniles under the age of 18, Sinopoli said.
Investigators have been in contact with Airbnb and the property owner as part of the investigation, according to Sinopoli. He also requested that anyone who was at the party and took photos or video contact detectives immediately: “Your information, no matter how small it may seem, could be crucial to this investigation.”
“This kind of violence is unacceptable in our community, and we’re committed to applying all available resources to this investigation,” Sinopoli added.
While Bath Township has a zoning ordinance prohibiting Airbnb and other short-term rentals, according to Sinopoli, “it’s not illegal, it’s simply a zoning violation.”
“I did speak with the property owner early this morning. They are aware of this incident,” Sinopoli said. “We also discussed the issue of the short-term rental.”
An ABC News request for comment sent to Airbnb regarding the shooting did not immediately receive a response.
Sinopoli said that Sunday’s incident marked the second time since July 2017 that a shooting had occurred at an Airbnb rental property in Bath Township. He said that in the previous incident, a man was shot in the leg. That incident involved an apparent drive-by shooting at a party, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
The Sunday shooting came just days after Airbnb announced that it was deploying what it called AI “anti-party” technology across the United States and Canada to help mitigate Halloween-night gatherings.
The company said it is using machine learning to block bookings that show a potential of party risks, “such as the length of the reservation, the distance of the listing from the guest’s location, property type, and timing of the booking, including last-minute requests.”
This is the fifth year that Airbnb has instituted anti-Halloween party protections, which prohibited 38,000 people from booking houses in the U.S. and 6,300 in Canada last year, according to the company.
Airbnb issued a permanent global party ban in 2022 following multiple shooting incidents.
“Strong policies must be complemented by strong enforcement,” the company said at the time. “We’ve introduced a number of anti-party measures in recent years to enforce our policy and try, to the best of our ability, to stop both unauthorized parties and chronic party houses.”
