‘Chaos’: Hundreds were at pool party when gunfire erupted, killing 1

CHARLOTTE — A deadly shooting at a north Charlotte house Sunday night started with a pool party that was booked through a peer-to-peer rental app called Swimply.

Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz just spoke to the woman who lives in the house on Hucks Road near Old Statesville and Interstate 485.

She said she rented out her pool and wasn’t home when she got a call about a shooting. Richard Thomas, 20, died and four others were hurt. The renter, Serge Arnaud, said the event was allowed to have 200, but she estimated there were hundreds more partygoers at the pool. Vehicles packed her front and back yards. People under 21 wore wristbands, she said. Attendees were patted down, she said.

Swimply is like Airbnb but for pools and can have more amenities, such as hot tubs, bathrooms, grills, speakers, etc.

Arnaud estimated 500 teens, and young adults were at the gathering.

“My window faces out in the yard,” Arnaud said. “I see them kids flying, people was flying everywhere.”

There was trash floating on the water and scattered across the yard on Hucks Road.

Neighbor Colby Granger told Sáenz he was home with his newborn when gunfire erupted.

“I felt very helpless,” he said.

He feared a round would pierce his home and looked outside.

“(There were) people sprinting,” he said. “Like 150 in the backyard, 50 people in the front yard, people running everywhere. hiding in the bushes, running across the street, running to get into cars, cars driving through the front yard, picking people up, just chaos.”

Neighbors want to see more regulations for renting pools. Without more rules, everyone is in danger when things escalate, they said.

VIDEO: 1 dead, 4 hurt in shooting at north Charlotte party

1 dead, 4 hurt in shooting at north Charlotte party

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