Gun violence at tech firm
A woman, who believed she was being suppressed by YouTube, opens fire at the company’s headquarters in California, injuring three before taking her own life.
SAN BRUNO: A woman who believed she was being suppressed by YouTube and told her family members she “hated” the company opened fire at YouTube’s headquarters in California, wounding three people before taking her own life, police said.
Investigators did not believe Nasim Aghdam specifically targeted the three victims when she pulled out a handgun and fired off several rounds in a courtyard at the company’s headquarters south of San Francisco on Tuesday, police said.
But a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said Aghdam had a longstanding dispute with the company.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the case, said Aghdam used the name “Nasime Sabz” online.
A website in that name decried YouTube’s policies and said the company was trying to “suppress” content creators.
“YouTube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views!” one of the messages on the site said.
“There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to!!!!!”
Aghdam “hated” YouTube and was angry that the company stopped paying her for videos she posted on the platform, her father Ismail Aghdam told the Bay Area News Group.
On Monday, he called police to report his daughter missing after she did not answer the phone for two days and warned officers that she might go to YouTube.
Officers in Mountain View – about 48km from YouTube’s headquarters – found her sleeping in her car in a parking lot at around 2am on Tuesday, but let her go after she refused to answer their questions.
Aghdam did not appear to be a threat to herself or others, police spokesman Katie Nelson said.
Nelson would not say whether officers had been warned that Aghdam might have been headed to the YouTube headquarters.
Earlier on Tuesday, law enforcement said the shooting was being investigated as a domestic dispute, but did not elaborate.
It was not immediately clear why police later said the people shot were not specifically targeted.
One of the victims – a 36yearold man – was in critical condition, a spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital said.
A 32yearold woman was in serious condition and a 27yearold woman in fair condition, the spokesman said.
YouTube employee Dianna Arnspiger said she was on the building’s second floor when she heard gunshots, ran to a window and saw the shooter on a patio outside.
“It was a woman firing her gun. I just said, ‘Shooter’ and everybody started running,” Arnspiger said.
The world’s biggest online video website is owned by Silicon Valley giant Google, but company officials said it was a tightknit community.
The headquarters has more than 1,000 engineers and other employees in several buildings. — AP