INDIANAPOLIS — An early Sunday shooting that killed a woman and injured two people has been linked to a short-term rental, raising new safety concerns.
The Meridian-Kessler neighborhood was shaken after the shooting at a short-term rental that killed 38-year-old Brittany Members. Police say they have not yet completed their investigation of the shooting reported about 1 a.m. Sunday in the 4000 block of North Park Avenue on the north side of Indianapolis.
Emma Clust, president of the Meridian-Kessler Neighborhood Association board, said Monday, "Lots of teenagers in the street screaming, sirens, hundreds, maybe more than 100 shots fired. It was deeply, deeply traumatizing for those people."Clust said about short-term rentals, "Ensuring that they're registered with the Department of Business Neighborhood Services rental registry, which this property was not, and leveraging whatever technology is available to detect and prevent large gatherings."
Clust said short-term rentals cannot be banned in the state, but going forward, property owners and rental hosts could be more diligent about how they manage their properties and maybe have stricter policies for guests.
People who live nearby include the Rev. Charles Harrison, senior pastor at Barnes United Methodist Church. He works to address youth violence through community engagement, accountability, and conflict resolution. "We gotta talk about it at home with your children. You gotta talk about it with your family. We gotta talk about this in the community. We have to get involved. We have to care. It's not just somebody else's problem because it's a community problem."
Tony Lopez, deputy director of public safety for the city-county government's Office of Public Health and Safety, said Monday, "The more we can educate, the more we can better train individuals on conflict resolution, I would hope the better the communities are."
The Meridian-Kessler Neighborhood Association, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, and City-County Councilor John Barth will host a public community meeting on at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Womack Memorial CME Church, 4401 Carrollton Ave.
The Democrat said Monday about short-term rental operators, "Do they have an obligation to the community to make sure they're partnered with the neighborhood association and easily accessible when problems happen? Do they have an obligation to the community to make sure they have the right screening in place?"
Barth also said he and the neighborhood association had already spoken with the homeowner where the shooting happened, as the group looks for ways to strengthen oversight of short-term rentals. "His response was that he wants to be a good partner, and he's willing to consider different options."
