TORONTO -- A Toronto woman is speaking out after an Airbnb party at her adjoining neighbour’s house ended in gunfire early Sunday morning.
Tatjana Azman said she was inside her home, located near Pape and Hazelwood avenues, Saturday night around 10 p.m. when she heard something through her semi-detached wall.
"I heard screaming. I thought it was maybe domestic abuse. Something was going on," Azman said, speaking to CTV News Toronto Tuesday.
That’s when Azman said she decided to leave her own home and stay with her boyfriend.
"I did not want to stay home," Azman said.
Speaking to CTV News Toronto Tuesday, police confirmed they were called to an Airbnb rental property in the area at around 3 a.m. to a report of shots fired.
"Shell casings were recovered at the scene," Detective Sergeant Roger Caracciolo said.
Azman said later that morning, she received a call from a man who identified himself as the owner of the Airbnb property. She said he told her that a fight had taken place at the property.
"He called saying 'There’s been a problem at the home. There was a fight,'" Azman said.
A short time later, Azman logged onto her neighbourhood’s Facebook page and discovered that the fight was much more than what the property owner described.
"I saw pictures of cops, yellow tape around my house. At that point, I think I lost it and left to [go back to] my home."
Azman said she found a bullet casing on the ground and bullet holes in both her and her adjoining-neighbours’ house.
Police said that no injuries were reported as a result of the shooting, but Azman, a single-parent who lives with her 15-year-old son, said the situation could have been much worse.
"Terrifying. To experience all of this next door is horrifying. You never know, it could have been my son."
Police have not yet released suspect details and are asking anyone with any information to come forward.
City councillor says the Airbnb is illegal
On Tuesday, the councillor for Ward 14 Toronto-Danforth, Paula Fletcher, said that the Airbnb property in question is “illegal.”
"I’ve written both to Airbnb and the city [to] get this listing off [the website]," Fletcher said speaking to CTV News Toronto.
"It’s an illegal Arirbnb. You can only have an Airbnb in your principle residence. This is a home that somebody owns and they’re renting it out as an Airbnb," Fletcher added.
"The owner should do the right thing and rent it out to a family that wants to live in a nice area, not to parties that end in shootings."
Following the incident, Airbnb said they are aware of the situation and is “outraged” by the reported behavior.
"The violence stemming from this incident has no place in the Airbnb community," Airbnb spokesperson Lindsey Scully said in a statement to CTV News Toronto.
"We have removed the booking guest from our community and suspended the listing as we investigate further. Additionally, we have contacted the Toronto Police Service and let them know we stand ready to assist in their investigation."
History of shootings at Airbnb properties
This isn’t the first time Airbnb has had to deal with a shooting at one of their rental properties.
In September, a woman from Maple, Ont, said her home was shot at after she stopped an unauthorized party thrown by one of her Airbnb guests.
And in October, five people were killed and four others were injured after a shooting took place at a Halloween party attended by some 100 people in San Francisco
In the aftermath of that incident, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said that the company would start banning "party houses".
"We are redoubling our efforts to combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct," Chesky said in a tweet posted Nov. 2.
