ORINDA, Calif. (AP) — Four men were arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder in the deaths of five people in a shooting at a Halloween party at an Airbnb rental home in the San Francisco Bay Area. A fifth man was arrested on a charge of being an accessory to the crime, the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Department said.
Sheriff David Livingston said search warrants were executed in several Northern California cities Thursday. He did not address a possible motive in the fatal shootings in Orinda that sent more than 100 terrified partygoers running for safety, but he said in a statement that investigators found two of the victims were armed, “which may have played a role in this tragedy.”
Tiyon Farley, 22, of Antioch; Omar Taylor, 24, of Pittsburg; Raymon Hill Jr., 23, of San Francisco and Oakland; Javlin County, 29, of Sausalito and Richmond; and Oshiana Tompkins, 19, of Vallejo and Hercules, died in the shooting and at least four others were injured.
“Extraordinary cooperation among multiple law enforcement agencies led to these arrests and a small measure of justice for the true victims,” Livingston said in a statement.
Those arrested Thursday were: Lebraun Tyree Wallace, 28, of San Mateo; Shamron Joshua Mitchell, 30, of Antioch; and Jaquez Deshawn Sweeney and Jason D. Iles, both 20 and of Marin City, on charges of murder and conspiracy. All four were being held without bail.
Devin Isiah Williamson, 21, of Vallejo, was arrested as an accessory and was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky has since said the San Francisco-based company was taking steps to stop unauthorized parties in the wake of the deadly shooting. In a series of tweets Nov. 2, Chesky said company is stepping up efforts to “combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct.”