City-county council considers short-term rental ordinance after weekend violence

INDIANAPOLIS — Three separate acts of gun violence at short term rental properties over the weekend are just one reason city and community leaders are looking to take action against problem properties.

“Sunday morning, I woke up to the sound of 3 loud bangs,” Lydia Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson told WRTV that she recalls the moments she jumped out of bed to the sound of gun fire. Police say the sound was a man being shot after a fight broke outside a short-term rental property. Officers say there were dozens of people in the street before the fight.

“I heard 4 shots go off, then another 10 to 12 and then I saw a guy go down,” One neighbor who asked to not be identified said.

Police say it was just one of three incidents involving gun fire at short term rental properties in Indianapolis this weekend alone.

WATCH | 1 killed, two injured after shooting at home believed to be short-term rental property

“This isn’t the first time its happened but having gun violence two doors down is never an easy feeling,” Wilkinson added.

City and Community leaders are hoping to change that. They are introducing a new proposal to create an online registry to track all short-term rentals in Indianapolis. If passed, property owners would have to apply for a permit each year.

“There is no database – it’s impossible for any neighborhood association or police or fire to know that a property is a short-term rental,” Dakota Pawlicki, President of the Fountain Square Neighborhood Association.

It's so neighbors, like Lydia, don’t have to deal with issues like that again.

“This is a neighborhood, there are families – we shouldn’t have to deal with gun violence,” Wilkinson concluded.