INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 17-year-old was shot and killed early Sunday morning at an apartment complex on the northeast side of Indianapolis, where residents say people are turning the property into a hotspot for short-term rentals.
The teen went by “Tug,” family told I-Team 8. He turned 17 years old two weeks ago.
Tug was a basketball player at George Washington High School and loved being with friends. That’s who he was with early Sunday morning at a birthday party.
Just before 3 a.m., officers were called to The Grounds Apartments. At first, they didn’t find anyone hurt.
Then, a second call came in. Tug was killed inside a unit on the fourth floor of one of the apartment buildings in the complex.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officials said they believe a party was happening inside the unit.
Neighbors confirmed to I-Team 8 the room was rented out overnight for a 19-year-old’s birthday party.
I-Team 8 got access to an email sent to tenants Sunday afternoon. It confirmed the “individual involved was the guest of a temporary visitor.” They also say the person renting it out is no longer allowed at the apartment complex.
Residents feel there’s a deeper issue.
“Waking up to that and knowing that there’s Airbnbs happening in this building,” 22-year-old Jade Eilers said. “That was not something I was made aware of.”
Eilers moved into the brand-new apartments just a few months ago after graduating college.
She’s felt safe for the most part, until now.
On the lease she signed, it strictly prohibits short-term subletting or rentals. It specifically says it does not allow units to be posted on renting websites.
“Finding out that there was, and there currently is, five or more listings on Airbnb that I looked at, I was scared, and it makes me uncomfortable and makes me want to move right now,” Eilers said.
She often notices different people when she goes to the gym or the pool. Someone once told her they were “just there for work.”
At the time, she didn’t think much of it. But, now, she’s scared.
She reached out to apartment’s management.
They confirmed to her Sunday afternoon that there is a company listing units online for short-term rentals.
“To just say something very vaguely and expect all of us to be okay. We’re not okay,” she said.
Tenants posted a not in the apartment’s halls this morning.
“This devastating event highlights the serious safety risks created by the dozens of Airbnb units operating inside our community,” the note said. “With constant turnover and little to no vetting, we are essentially living in a hotel environment, something most of us were never told when we signed our leases.”
“It’s not going to be an isolated incident, because something like this can happen again when we’re not vetting the people who are in our building where we live and it’s our home,” she said.
Additionally, the shooting is the latest in a long line of youth violence incidents this summer.
Anti-violence advocates say the community cannot grow numb to this.
“I wasn’t shocked, definitely frustrated, grieving again for that young man and his family, I can’t imagine waking up on a Sunday and we’re supposed to be rejoicing in church and having to plan a funeral,” Kareem Hines, the founder of New Breed of Youth, said.
“We really see it as something that we need to address,” The Rev. David Greene, Sr., president of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, said. “Not from a finger pointing standpoint, but really about, you know, families, and faith leaders, and policy makers, and schools all coming together to do our part, because we don’t want to continue to see young people’s last cut short due to gun violence.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)