A family took a vacation in Central Florida to enjoy the sun and celebrate a big birthday. They had to end their trip early because the Airbnb rental home they were staying in was full of bullet holes.
There was a shooting at Kelleen Reddy’s vacation home. “We spent so much time and love planning this trip, only to have it ruined,” she said.
Reddy said that the 14-person family, ages 2 to 16, got to the home on Coconut Breeze in Kissimmee with plans to stay for five days to enjoy the Disney Parks and celebrate her brother’s 40th birthday at Epcot. At the end of the trip, they planned to have a cookout and have fun by the pool.
Aside from the shooting, Reddy said, “The situation is very bad because you can’t travel and feel safe.”
Reddy said she picked the rental because it had enough space for the whole family. The neighborhood where the house was is gated and has protection.
As of Saturday night, Reddy said things got worse. Dozens of cars and people began gathering around the house, which was only five feet from where the Osceola Sheriff’s Office said there was a party.
“A lot of screaming, a lot of loud music, and I think the street racing really scared everyone. There were a lot of cars racing, and the sound was very loud,” Reddy said.
He said that the house had a big party and that the cops were called twice. The second time, the Osceola Sheriff’s Office got a call about a shooting at the house, which made a lot of people run for safety.
The sheriff’s office said that a friend of someone who was shot took them to the hospital and said they would be fine. However, the Reddy family was trapped in the bathroom on the second floor of their rental home because they were afraid of the bullets.
“We just heard this huge explosion of fireworks,” Reddy said.
Reddy said that the bullets went through their rented home more than once. We were sent pictures of bullet holes in the windows, bed posts that hit people who would have been sleeping that night, and a broken back window on their car.
Reddy said, “I mean, it was pure shock. I was shaking in the bathroom, and you didn’t know if bullets were coming into our house at that moment.”
So far, no one has been arrested by the Osceola Sheriff’s Office for the shooting.
Airbnb told WFTV that there was no Airbnb rental linked to the party or shooting that was reported.
Additionally, the business said that every guest who rents through them is “Air Covered.” This free service protects guests against certain problems.
The company said that if a guest has a major problem with a listing that the host can’t fix, the company will help them find a different place to stay or give them their money back.
