By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On August 23, a shelter-in-place was put in effect on Highway 9 between The Gore Road, Patterson Side Road, Finnerty Side Road and Humber Station Road in Caledon. 

It was reported after the shelter-in-place was lifted that four people were taken into custody, and three were left injured.

With the investigation ongoing, those living in the area have many unanswered questions.

A neighbour to the property on Finnerty Side Road, who has asked to be referred to as Margaret, shared that the problems began long before the shooting.

Following the sale of the property two years ago, she reported that this summer, mainly on weekends, there has been excessive loud noise.

“All day, all night, off and on, loud music,” she says.

Margaret said a nearby neighbour had even gone down to the property before to try to quiet down the “parties”.

They brought the attention to Caledon's By-law office, who “determined and found the listing on Vrbo,” she says. “It was an actual Vrbo Caledon Retreat listed, and by Vrbo rules, it said, no loud parties.”

Vrbo stands for Vacation Rentals by Owner, and it is similar to platforms like Airbnb, allowing travellers to rent homes and properties on a short-term basis.

Before the incident in August, she and other neighbours filed paperwork and video evidence of noise and sound, as well as logs regarding the amount of noise from the property. 

She said following the incident, the listing has been “taken down.”

“I do hope that they registered the fact that it was a Vrbo, and maybe could go back and find out who rented it,” suggested Margaret.

She shared that the whole situation has been very vague.

“This is the first time I've experienced anything like this, and I would like to think that most of the people here on this road as well, because it's such a quiet, private, lovely country road,” she says. “All of us are hearing rumors, we're hearing things, we don't know what to take of it, we don't know what to make of it.”

Margaret said they're “not the only people to experience the Vrbo aspect of it. You just think that if it's a by-law [noise], that you're not supposed to have that.”

She originally purchased her home in the area because she needed a quiet space for her animals.

“They're not all party houses,” she said regarding short-term rental properties.

“If the responsible ones are going to be shut down because of that, well, then I guess that's something that has to be considered. But it's not acceptable and I just wish that there was more response to it.”

She said that, coming out of this, the bottom line for them is that they wish things were clearer.

“If things were clearer for us to follow when this does happen, that shouldn't be our first response to go and try to shut it down ourselves. There should be a protocol to follow when there's no one in the By-law office after 4:30.”

“So, who can you call? You call the OPP. And when their response isn't quick and clear, it's just so frustrating.”

Before the incident, she added, they thought the worst that could come from shutting down excessive noise was an irritated reaction, “now we know that it is a potential danger.”

By-law was asked for a comment but could not provide one due to the fact that “the matter is part of an ongoing investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police.”

The OPP shared regarding the matter that “There is nothing further to share at this time, but it is still being investigated.”