Neighbours recall screaming, running, sobbing after North York house party shooting

A massivehouse party in North York descended into chaos after a young man was shot in the head early Sunday morning.

• Young man shot in head near Bayview and Steeles

The shooting happened at a home on Glenelia Avenue in the Bayview Avenue and SteelesRoad area just before4:30 a.m.

Paramedics rushed the victim to hospital in life-threatening condition.Police had no update on the young man's condition on Monday morning.

"I initially hoped it was firecrackers," said Jan Morrissey, a resident of Glenelia Avenue. "So I'm looking out, you know thinking firecrackers, but when you see people running and terrified you knew that it was not."

Morrissey remembers the moment that the usualloud party noises turned into something else entirely.

"You heard probably five shots and then just the screaming, the screaming, the running, the car doors slamming, cars taking off and girls sobbing," said Morrissey. "It was just awful."

Morrissey says she and other neighbours had already made a number of calls to police about the noise from the party after cars crowded the residential street around midnight.

The police did attend the scene to tell the party goers to quiet down at around 2:30 a.m. but neighbours say that the party was stillvery loud. About two hours later, itbecame violent.

"You started hearing not just loud music, loud voices, talking noises, you heard loud angryvoices and then the gunshots," said Morrissey.

Police say their investigation into the shooting is ongoing and so far they have not identified any suspects.

Neighbours assumed it was another Airbnb rental

Neighbours thought that the party was likely hosted by Airbnbguests renting the housebecause they knew that the homewas listed with the accommodation service.

Morrissey says that short-term renters had used it for parties in the past.

She tried to makeAirbnb contact the owner of the propertyearly Sunday morning, but they said they couldn't do that. Howeverafter the shooting, Morrissey says she received a letter from Airbnbsayingthat the house was not booked through their servicethat night.

"We've been after the city for a number of years to enact some bylaws," said Morrissey. "It's the whole Uber thing but in houses I guess."

Residents in the area have suggested bylaws to deal with short-term rentals, includingrestricting the number of people who can be in a short-term rental andthe number of days they can stay.

They have also said it would be helpful if the owners of properties used for these rentals had to be listed with the city.

"There's just no accountability and it's very frustrating," said Morrissey.

The five-bedroom, two-storey house wasadvertisedon Airbnbas a home that can "sleep 6-12 comfortably, even more can be added, with lots of rooms to move around."