PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A second victim has filed a lawsuit against Airbnb after a shooting on the North Side over Easter weekend claimed the lives of two teenagers and injured eight others.
Dejonia Rosser broke her leg jumping from a second story window. His attorney says that party should never have happened.
After gunshots rang out On the terror-filled night, two youths were reported dead and eight others injured, including Rosser, now 19, who on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Airbnb, the owners of the property and the company that took reserved the space for the loud party.
“She went to a party not knowing there would be gunfire and the other things that happened and she did her best to save herself,” attorney George Kontos said.
Hoping to escape the bullets, Kontos says she jumped out of a second story window, breaking her leg.
“She has had multiple surgeries. She has plates and screws in her body that will stay there. She still has trouble walking and may have a long way ahead of her in terms of pain and other issues,” said Kontos.
At the time, Airbnb had a temporary ban on parties in its short-term rentals that it made permanent two months after the Pittsburgh shooting and in a statement then stated, the blame lies with the organizers of the event.
“Airbnb strictly prohibits parties and we condemn behavior that allegedly provoked this criminal gun violence,” Airbnb said in a statement after the shooting. “The booking guest has been banned for life from Airbnb and we will review all legal options to hold this person accountable.”
“It’s actually what came out on social media and was available, which was the flyer that was readily available,” Kontos said.
The suit and Kontos argue that the event advertised the sale of alcohol on flyers and on social media and Airbnb knew or should have known this was happening and parties like this were likely to end badly. The suit cites seven such violent incidents ahead of the Easter weekend melee on the North Side.
“They really only had a policy in name,” Kontos said. “It was window dressing. Technically they had a policy but they didn’t enforce it.”
It’s the second civil action name Airbnb but it probably won’t be the last. In June, a woman who was shot in the leg also sued Airbnb.
No one has been arrested.
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