Victims' Families Frustrated Over Unsolved 2019 Halloween Airbnb House Party Shooting in Orinda
ORINDA (KPIX 5) -- It's been two years but the 2019 Halloween night in Orinda, where five people were shot and killed, remains unsolved and families of the victims still have no answers.
The Halloween event was advertised as a mansion party. That so-called mansion was a house that sits on a narrow private road and was rented on Airbnb.
"No one is behind bars. Clearly enough has not been done," said attorney Adante Pointer who represents four of the victims families." At this point they are left with more questions than answers on the eve - if you will - of this 'horrinda' massacre."
Two years later and photos of some of the victims and a heart balloon sat at the fountain entrance to theater square.
"I was shocked and it really was upsetting for everyone around us," said one Orinda resident .
A balloon release and celebration of life for one of the victims, Javlin County, will be held on Saturday.
"Now the families are just holding an empty Halloween bag, if you will," said Pointer. "The trick has been on them and there has been no treat as it relates to a treat to justice, or atreat to an accountability, or a treat to Airbnb doing right by these grieving families."
Since the shooting, the city of Orinda did implement an emergency ordinance giving homeowners guidelines to follow if offering short-term rentals. Airbnb has also banned one-night bookings during Halloween.
Pointer says that is not enough.
"Two years later the people you would go to for these answers have gone to have been non-responsive," said Pointer. "They have gone radio silent.
Several people were arrested two weeks after the deadly shootings but they were released because there wasn't enough evidence.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office which is handling the case declined to talk to us, stating there was "nothing to update."
