UNION COUNTY, N.C. — The Sunday morning shooting at an Airbnb rental located off of Idlewild Road near Hemby Bridge was likely prompted by an ongoing dispute between the two men who were shot, according to new information released Monday by the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say 34-year-old Jimman Lee Darrente Rice, AKA “Krunk,” was shot and killed and 21-year-old Diontre Keishawn Lipscomb was seriously injured and remains hospitalized. Both men are believed to be from Kannapolis.
Deputies say the nature of the dispute between the two men appears to have ties to a drive-by shooting that occurred in the Kannapolis area earlier this year that injured a child, believed to be Lipscomb’s brother, although deputies say that’s still under investigation.
The Sheriff’s office says up to 300 people were attending a pool party at the Airbnb house rental when the shots rang out just before 2 a.m. Sunday.
"We had been here a couple of times within the last two hours over noise complaints, from what I understand this was a two-day party that was going on at that this location, so people were in and out for the last couple of days," said Tony Underwood, Chief Communications Officer for the Sheriff’s Office.
Underwood says the investigation revealed that the shooting took place along the long gravel drive leading from Idlewild Road to a large house situated several hundred yards away.
Investigators say they are confident that Lipscomb and Rice, and at least one other unknown individual with Rice exchanged gunfire. After the shooting ended, they say several people with Rice placed him back in the van they were traveling in and transported him to Novant Matthews where he was pronounced deceased. Deputies say EMS transported Lipscomb to Atrium Main where he underwent surgery and remains hospitalized.
Short-term rentals are big business for North Carolinians, bringing in $164 million dollars in 2018. Mecklenburg County ranks among the top rental destinations in the state with more than 2,100 hundred active listings, second only to the Blue Ridge Mountains, according to data on AirDNA, which tracks the performance of over 10 million vacation rentals across 80,000 cities worldwide.
But instead of bringing in extra cash some renters turning out costly, including those who throw parties. Jessica Black, who is part of the group, Moms Against Short Term Rentals, has been pushing companies like AirBnb to require renters to require IDs.
“The fine print says that they cannot guarantee users are who they claim to be, they can’t guarantee they’ve run a background, they can’t guarantee their users don’t have criminal records, and that they’re not on the sex offender registry,” says Black,” So if you want your kids to go ride bikes or walk the dog or walk to a friend’s house, suddenly it becomes a little uncomfortable when you have a bunch of short-term renters in the neighborhood.”
Black says she doesn’t want to ban short-term rentals, rather she says she’s advocating for more corporate responsibility on the end of the platforms.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, for example, ask owners of short-term rentals such as Airbnb to voluntarily register their properties due to underage drinking, parties and armed robberies. They say by having landlords register, the police will know who contact when they arrive in response to 911 calls.
“As I was looking at safety issues at short term rentals noticed there were all these shootings at parties and so I casually started keeping a list and it took on a life of its own,” says Black who says she was up to 130 across the country.
This death of Rice in Union County now marking 131, leaving family grieving and neighbors of the rental home in shock.
Airbnb released the following statement regarding the shooting:
The Union County Sheriff’s Office says no charges have been filed but anyone with information is asked to call them at: 704-283-3789.