Police probe latest short-term rental shooting
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — This story has been updated with a response from city officials. They told News 8 the short-term rental registry is still in its planning stages and has not yet been launched.
Neighbors on Monday said they hadn’t had any issues with a short-term rental property before a weekend shooting put a man in the hospital.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers said someone shot a man in front of a short-term rental property on Carrollton Avenue just after midnight Sunday after a fight. The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Officer Tommy Thompson says the shooting was still under investigation as of Monday afternoon, and police could not release any additional information.
The shooting is the latest in the city involving a short-term rental property. A man was killed and two more were hurt in a shooting at a short-term rental this past June. A 12-year-old boy was shot at a house party in June 2023.
Thompson says it’s up to the owners or managers of those properties to vet their guests. “We ask that any owner of a short-term rental be cognizant of the individuals looking to rent from them, see if they’re local, if they’re a one-night stay.”
Thompson says IMPD records show this was the first time officers have ever been called to that property. That matches what three neighbors who live within a few doors of the property told News 8 Monday afternoon. The neighbors, who did not want to be identified, say they have had problems with other rental properties along the block but have never had any issues with the property involved in Sunday morning’s shooting. One man says he was aware there were people there when he went to bed Saturday night but he didn’t hear anything until the shots rang out.
Marion County property records show the Carrollton Avenue property is one of four owned by Griffix Property Group LLC, which is owned by Sunitha Rao. Rao did not return a request for comment from News 8. Thompson says officers reached Rao quickly following the shooting.
The Indianapolis City-County Council in August approved a short-term rental registry to make it easier to contact owners and managers of short-term rentals in the event of an emergency. The registry is voluntary until Jan. 1, after which it will become mandatory.
Thompson recommends short-term rental property owners install security cameras. He says noise detectors are another good idea as they can be set to automatically alert the owner if a gathering gets louder than a certain level.