South Bend Police Department share safety tips for short term rental owners following shooting on April 4

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The South Bend Police Department shared tips for owners of short-term rentals to protect their homes. This comes after a shooting on April 4 and ahead of a Luke Combs concert happening at Notre Dame on April 18.

Doorbell camera footage shows teens running, hiding behind someone's car in their driveway after gunshots rang out.

This was the scene in what neighbors describe as a quiet neighborhood around 11:30 p.m. On Saturday, April 4. Police say the initial investigation shows the shots were fired at a large gathering at a short-term rental property in the 1400 block on Sunnymede Avenue in South Bend. Multiple cars and homes were left with bullet holes after this incident.

South Bound Police Sergeant Jarveair Bourn says he's seen short-term rentals used for everything but a nice getaway.

"We have seen instances where individuals were using short term rental properties for maybe music videos or showing illegal drug usage," Sgt. Bourn shared.

He knows people often book short-term rentals when traveling for big events and is in contact with the hosts of those homes, as well as with Airbnb itself.

"We want to be able to relay to hosts and property owners to make sure that when you are renting your properties, be responsible with the information of who's renting your property. Just try to be thorough in making that conclusion of who you're going to rent your property out to," Sgt. Bourn explained.

Sgt. Bourn couldn't comment on an ongoing investigation but tells ABC57 a supportive community can make all the difference in cracking the case.

"We have been seeing cooperation from neighbors, and it's been helpful for our detective bureau and joust our community as a whole."

He says he really likes that about this community, people come together to try and make sure things like this don't happen.

Bourn urges hosts to triple check who they're allowing to stay in their homes but says there's no need to be afraid ahead of this Saturday's Luke Combs concert at Notre Dame.

"We're still going to be vigilant in area where we know there's going to be a high population of individuals."

Sgt. Bourn also shared that though situations like this do happen, there is not an increase in incidents like this one in South Bend.

For any short-term rental owners with questions or looking for information, you can contact SBPD by email at [email protected].