Alief neighbors upset after Airbnb party gets out of hand when 2 teens are shot

Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Neighbors upset after Airbnb party gets out of hand in Alief
A home in Alief was the scene of an out-of-control party, where two teenagers were shot. Hear from neighbors who share the frustration from the shooting aftermath.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- The party is done and the shooting is long over. However, Quan Nguyen can still see the bullet hole in his car.

"I was just playing video games. I checked out the window, and I saw people running left and right and they were shooting, and I was like, 'I can't believe it,'" said Nguyen, who lives across the street from the house that was rented out for a party Sunday night.

At about 12:45 a.m. Monday, deputies responded to a shooting at a house party on Maximos Drive near Howell Sugar Land Road in Alief.

Deputies said there were about 100 people at a house party in a rented Airbnb.

Surveillance video shows as soon as gunshots rang out, everyone scattered. One neighbor even captured a video of a partygoer's car hitting his car before taking off.

EMS treated two teenagers with gunshot wounds. A 19-year-old was shot in the abdomen and taken into surgery. A 17-year-old was shot in the buttocks and was reportedly responsive and talking to EMS.

Deputies said four people, including the shooters, left the party in a stolen black Kia. At some point, authorities spotted the vehicle and a short pursuit began.

The suspects crashed out and abandoned the Kia along Addicks Clodine Road, about three miles from the party, according to deputies. No arrests have been made.

Deputies described the suspects as three juvenile males and a 16-year-old girl.

"The only advice I would give, be aware of what your kids are up to. Know who they're hanging out with," Matthew Curry with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said. "There's no reason for kids to be out until two, three, four o'clock in the morning, because nothing good happens after midnight. I think we all know that."

"It's scary," said neighbor Crystal Parish, who was awakened by the gunfire and crowd noise. "Since I've been here, this hasn't happened in this neighborhood before, and I have children. I can't imagine the way they were shooting and there are stray bullets or anything it could have killed somebody."

Deputies said the stolen Kia had been taken in a carjacking a week ago. They say the 16-year-old girl who ran from the car was involved in the initial carjacking.

ABC13 was able to track down the home's owner. Speaking to us through his front door, the owner said he rents out his house to a real estate investor, who then sublets the house on Airbnb. The company has delisted everything, and the owner says he will no longer let the investor sublet it as a short-term rental.

In regard to the incident, Airbnb released the following statement:

Airbnb bans parties, and we are outraged at the reported violence and disrespect for community safety. We have suspended the booking guests account and deactivated the listing while we look into this incident, and we stand ready to support the Harris County Sheriff in their investigation.

Law enforcement across our area have noticed an uptick in crime, and admit it may not be over yet.

"We're going to be in for a tough summer, and we're going to hang in there together as a city and do whatever we can to keep it safe," Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said last week.

Two other shooting incidents involving teens

The deadly house party shooting was just one of three incidents in Harris County that involved teenagers in a span of more than four hours.

In northwest Harris County, a 16-year-old boy shot a 14-year-old boy in the face during an argument over a girl, sheriff's deputies said. It happened in the 8600 block of Parasol Lane around 9:40 p.m. Sunday.

The 14-year-old is expected to survive.

About 12 minutes later, an unrelated shooting took place in the Spring area. Deputies found a 19-year-old man dead with gunshot wounds.

According to deputies, the deceased victim, an 18-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man were sitting in a vehicle outside the 21-year-old's house when at least one gunman walked up and fired several rounds into the car.

The female and male victims were taken to the hospital. The 18-year-old female was treated and released and the 21-year-old male remains in the hospital in stable condition, deputies said.

No arrests had been made and deputies did not provide any description of a possible suspect(s).