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4 Dead, Others Wounded In Mass Shooting At Orinda Halloween Party

ORINDA (CBS SF) -- Four people were killed and others wounded when gunfire erupted at a large Halloween night party late Thursday night at an Orinda home rented out on Airbnb, according to authorities.

Orinda police confirmed early Friday that four had died in the shooting outside a large home on the 100 block of Lucille Way, a quiet street nestled in the Orinda Hills. Officers were first dispatched to the home at about 10:50 p.m., police said.

The sheriff's office identified the victims as 22-year-old Tiyon Farley of Antioch, 24-year-old Omar Taylor of Pittsburg, 23-year-old Ramon Hill Jr. of San Francisco and Oakland and 29-year-old Javin County of Sausalito and Richmond.

The wounded were rushed to John Muir Hospital for treatment.

Instagram video of moment of shooting, aftermath (Video: @uglyniquu)

At a press conference Friday afternoon, Orinda police chief David Cook said responding officers encountered a chaotic scene at the home where more than 100 people were trying to flee along a narrow residential street.

Cook did not have any information on any suspects but said investigators believe there is not an ongoing threat to the community.

"We don't have any reason to believe that they stayed in the area," Cook said of the suspect or suspects. "We don't have any reason to believe that they were from Orinda."

Cook did not address a possible motive or how many people are believed to be involved in the attack.

"We're still trying to wrap our arms around what exactly transpired," said Cook.

Video from the scene showed multiple patients being loaded into ambulances. Others less seriously injured were limping away from the scene, being helped by friends.

"We received four victims of last night's shooting -- one dead shortly after arriving at the hospital," said John Muir spokesman Ben Drew. "One is in critical condition, one is in serious condition and one was treated and released."

John Muir Hospital spokesman Ben Drew on victims conditions

Contra Costa County Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said the exact number of injured was unknown as some victims transported themselves to the hospital.

Romond Reynolds came to the neighborhood Friday morning to pick up the car of his son, 24-year-old Armani Reynolds, who he said was left comatose by the shooting.

"All I know is that he's a victim and was at the wrong place at the wrong time," Reynolds said, adding his son apparently learned about the party on the internet.

Reynolds said he received a call at about 11 p.m. saying someone had driven his son to the hospital. The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office said at least four people were wounded but there's no precise count because some victims went to hospitals in private vehicles rather than ambulances.

The renter had told the homeowner she wanted to use the home with her asthmatic family to escape wildfire smoke. Instead of the agreed-upon 12 people at the home, more than a hundred showed up.

The home had been the subject of repeated complaints to the city for large parties and other code violations. City officials had requested in February that police break up any large parties at the residence, which violated city regulations.

Complaints were also lodged on Thursday night, when neighbors sent an email at 9:35 p.m., according to Orinda city manager Steve Solomon.

Solomon said neighbors also called police about the party. Police declined to say why officers did not respond.

The FBI is now assisting in the investigation into the shooting, according to authorities.

orinda shooting kpix5
Scene of shooting at Halloween party held at a rental home in Orinda, October 31, 2019. (CBS)

The CHP and other agencies were called to the scene due the the size of the crowd at the site. Police told KPIX 5 they are being overwhelmed by the crowd where the shooting happened.

According to social-media posts, an "AirBNB mansion party" had been advertised for Thursday night.

The owner of the home said a woman had rented the home through Airbnb for a family reunion. Michael Wang tells The San Francisco Chronicle the reunion was supposed to have a dozen people and but that scores showed up for the party.

Wang said he got calls from the neighbors about the noise and that his wife reached out to the woman, who claimed there were only 12 people in the home. He said he saw more than a dozen people there using footage from the Ring doorbell camera at his house.

Airbnb spokesman Ben Breit says in an email that the company is "urgently investigating" what happened.

Residents of the neighborhood were frustrated with the party's noise before the shooting, said neighbor Chris Gade.

"It was just more of a noise complaint that we were worried about originally," he told reporters.

Then Gade said he heard gunshots and saw people "screaming and fleeing down the hill."

"I think everybody in our neighborhood immediately locked our doors and started messaging each other, trying to figure out what was going on," he said. "This just doesn't happen in Orinda."

 

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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