Stray bullet from Plano short-term rental hits 3-year-old’s playroom

PLANO, Texas – The Plano family is shocked after a bullet fired at a short-term rental property party hits their 3-year-old daughter’s playroom.

People who live next door to Legacy Drive and Custer Road say they moved there because it was safe and quiet, but they say that ever since the house next door started being rented out a few months ago, it wasn’t like that at all.

The sound of the gunshots frightened many residents of the area early Sunday morning.

“I literally jumped out of bed,” neighbor John Green said.

“We fell to the floor. It was terrible,” said Jorja Landauer.

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John Green says he immediately knew it was a shooting.

“Listening to the video, I saw that over 20 shots were fired in 19 seconds. It means that someone unloaded several pistols, ”he said.

One of the bullets went straight into Zoe Sanchez’s house.

“I heard bang bang bang and I thought, oh my God, someone is shooting at our house,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez immediately checked on her three-year-old daughter, who was still sleeping.

It wasn’t until the next morning that her husband discovered that the bullet had pierced not only her window, but the wall as well.

“Right above my daughter’s couch is a huge bullet hole,” Sanchez said.

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Sanchez says that as long as this house remains open to guests through short-term rental sites, she won’t feel safe.

“I said, ‘Let’s talk, if mom or dad ever falls, that’s what you do,’ and lay down to show her,” she said.

Jorja Landauer says she tried to call the police at 00:30 about the party, but they were told there was nothing the police could do at that time because the situation had been resolved.

“More than 10 shell casings in the area,” Landauer said.

A few minutes before the shots rang out, a neighbor said someone had come to her door.

“I woke up at about 1:45 a.m. to a knock on my front door,” Melissa Mayo said.

Plano police arrested 24-year-old James Horton for evading arrest and possession of marijuana.

Trinity Banks, 18, was arrested for interfering with public police duties.

One weapon was seized.

Neighbors say this isn’t the first problem they’ve had since the house appeared on AirBNB and Vrbo listings.

“Like neighbors, they throw garbage over the fence into our yard. Cigarettes, wine bottles,” said Terry Frazier.

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An AirBNB spokesperson says its party-checking technology has blocked bookings at the house.

The house is still listed on VRBO. FOX 4 received no response from this platform.

Residents plan to speak to Plano City Council Monday night as the city struggles to decide how to regulate or zone short-term rentals.

“Within 6 months of opening, we had a shooting in our neighborhood.”

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This is at least the 11th short-term lease shooting in North Texas that has been documented in the news since 2019, according to one of the co-founders of the Texas Neighborhood Coalition.

The landlady says she blamed Vrbo for not looking after the guests better.