SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Online rental firm Airbnb Inc. said Saturday it will ban unauthorized party houses immediately in the wake of a deadly Halloween party shooting that killed five people in Northern California late Thursday night.
Airbnb Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky said in a series of tweets that the San Francisco-based company will double efforts to prevent renters from holding unauthorized parties at houses rented via Airbnb online services.
"Starting today, we are banning 'party houses' and we are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct, including conduct that leads to the terrible events we saw in Orinda," said Chesky, also co-founder of Airbnb.
He made the tweets in response to the shooting that occurred at around 11:00 p.m. local time Thursday (0700 GMT, Friday) in Orinda, a city of Contra Costa County, about 25 km northeast of San Francisco. Three party-goers from the Bay area were killed at the scene and two more died later at hospitals.
"What happened on Thursday night in Orinda, CA was horrible. I feel for the families and neighbors impacted by this tragedy," Chesky said.
He noted that his company will expand manual "screening of high-risk reservations flagged by our risk detection technology" and establish a "party house" rapid response team to prevent similar tragedies in the Orinda shooting.
"We are taking immediate action against users who violate these enhanced guest policies, including removal," to accelerate development and implementation of these new safety initiatives, he wrote.
He called the violation of guidelines to hold private parties at rented Airbnb homes "unacceptable."
Contra Costa Sheriff's Office said Friday that they were still investigating the Orinda killing, and the suspected shooter is "still outstanding."
Police authorities have not revealed any cause that led to the shooting at the Thursday party attended by more than 100 people. No arrests have been made yet, according to the police.
