Woman injures 3 before killing self at YouTube HQ
SAN FRANCISCO: A woman shot and wounded three persons before killing herself at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California Tuesday afternoon. Police identified the shooter as 39-year-old Nasim Najafi Aghdam, but are yet to ascertain her motivation. Initial reports indicated the shooting was being probed as a case of domestic dispute. The local NBC news affiliate linked her to a website and YouTube channels that criticised the Google video unit.
WASHINGTON: A woman opened fire at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California on Tuesday afternoon, wounding three people before she turned the gun on herself.
Authorities identified her as Nasim Aghdam, a 38-year-old resident of San Diego, but have still not said anything about her motivation. She used to post video clips on workout tips, graphic animal abuse and vegan cooking.
Her father Ismail Aghdam told Bay Area News Group in interview that his daughter had been “angry” with YouTube, which she claimed was censoring her videos and had not been paying her for content generated by her. The family had reported her missing the night before the incident and Aghdam told the police she might be headed for YouTube as she hated the company.
The police found her sleeping in her car and told the family everything was “under control”. Hours later she showed up at YouTube headquarters with a gun and started shooting started around lunch break.
Employees ran out for cover or took shelter where they could and several of them took to social media to post news of the shooting. Some called their families to let them know they were safe.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google that owns YouTube, called the shooting a “horrific act of violence” and an “unimaginable tragedy” in a statement.
Of the three wounded, a 27-year-old woman was said to be in fair condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 36-year-old man was in critical condition.
Mass shootings by a woman are rare in the US — only six of 160 such incidents between 2000 and 2013 were carried out by women, according to an FBI study published in 2014.