Bath township: At least nine people, including juveniles, were injured in a shooting at an Airbnb rental house party in Bath Township near Akron city in the US state of Ohio, media reports said on Sunday.

According to Anadolu Agency, the incident has prompted renewed scrutiny of party-related safety concerns at short-term rental properties. Airbnb condemned the violence in a statement, expressing that it was 'heartbroken by this senseless act of gun violence.'

The company stated that 'unauthorized and disruptive gatherings are strictly prohibited on Airbnb,' and its safety team 'acted immediately to remove the account of the individual who deliberately broke those rules by booking this stay.' Airbnb also noted that its law enforcement response team is collaborating closely with Bath Township Police Chief Michael Sinopoli to support the investigation.

This incident marks the second occurrence of such violence at an Airbnb rental in Bath Township since July 2017, when a drive-by shooting during a party left one man injured, as reported by the Akron Beacon Journal.

The event took place just days after Airbnb introduced new artificial intelligence-powered 'anti-party' technology in the US and Canada. This system is designed to prevent high-risk gatherings by evaluating factors such as reservation length, property type, and booking timing.

Last year, Airbnb's Halloween party protections successfully blocked 38,000 booking attempts in the US and 6,300 in Canada. The company permanently banned all parties globally in 2022 following multiple shooting incidents. Airbnb emphasized the importance of complementing strong policies with strong enforcement to prevent such gatherings.