Home owners in a Plano neighborhood say they want city leaders to restrict short term rentals after a shooting happened over the weekend. They tell NBC 5’s Sophia Beausoleil that renters held a party which led to gunfire and bullets everywhere.
Early Sunday morning, neighbors on Cannes Dr. in the Oakwood Glen Neighborhood of Plano took cover inside their homes after hearing a barrage of gunfire on the street. Homeowners said a fight between groups of people at a short-term rental on the block turned into gunfire.
Ring video from a neighbor's front porch captured the loud arguing followed by rapid gunfire.
"My husband was looking out the bedroom window, I was looking out this window, like, 'What is going on?' Then gunshots rang out. I just hit the floor and yelled at my husband to do the same thing," said Jorja Landauer who lives on the street and has been in their house since 1999.
She and several other neighbors spent Monday morning reflecting on what happened and told reporters about what they experienced and the fact something like this has not happened before.
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"I heard like 'bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.' I woke up and I said, ‘I think our house is being shot at,' said Zoey Sanchez.
Sanchez said she and her husband were sleeping in their toddler's bedroom in the back of the house and were glad they did because, in the morning, they found evidence of what they heard in their daughter's playroom.
"There’s a bullet hole and not only that, there’s a bullet hole above the mirror and play kitchen, and it goes through that wall, hits a window on the other side and ricocheted off of one of my concert posters," described Sanchez who said they would end up finding the bullet in the cat litter box.
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"It’s such a nice quiet neighborhood, I never thought this would happen here," said Sanchez who moved there in August.
"I told my daughter, 'If you ever hear mommy or daddy say like, drop down, this is what you do.' I showed her, I laid on the floor and told her, 'You won't move until we tell you to,' and that makes me emotional to think I have to talk to my three-year-old about that because somebody is being really irresponsible," expressed Sanchez who began to choke up.
Plano Police said they did respond to the neighborhood after the reports of gunfire.
They arrested a 24-year-old man from Fort Worth for evading detention and possessing marijuana over 4 ounces and under five pounds. An 18-year-old female was also arrested, police said for interfering with public duties of a peace officer.
As for who fired the gun in the street, police said that's still under investigation.
The owner of the rental told NBC 5 over the phone she was working to get details on what happened and would circle back.
Neighbors said outside of the shooting, what happened speaks to a larger issue in terms of short-term rentals and they want them done away with in suburban neighborhoods like theirs.
"It may not be a party that’s so loud that it leads to police or ends in gunfire, but there’s trash, there are cigarette butts, there’s wine bottles," said Terri Frazier who is relatively new to the neighborhood.
She lives next door to the rental property and said she's constantly hearing loud parties and dealing with trash.
“Several of us believe short-term rentals shouldn't be allowed in suburban neighborhoods," said Frazier. "We haven’t seen the owners since this party, the owners are rarely there. Some of us have met and spoke to the owners, they’re rarely there, they're absentee landlords and absentee landlords have no reason to be concerned about community standards and the fear that parties create.”
“I think what happened here is horrendous, although unintended, it has an incredibly negative impact on the neighborhood and the city," said Chris Brackmann who lives on the street.
"What the city needs to do is step up and put an end to short-term rentals, it’s inappropriate for this area," said Chris Brackmann a neighbor who wants STR to go.
“When you talk about short-term rentals, you think of a place like Orlando, Disney World, Branson," said Brackmann. "Why do we have short-term rentals in Plano? The only thing it can bring is parties and that’s not what this neighborhood needs."
The frustrated neighbors plan to speak during public comment at Monday's city council meeting.
The topic of short-term rentals has come up recently after a sex trafficking ring was broken up at a rental home in Plano.
