Trauma in real time: Updates from inside hit the Internet quickly
As gunshots rang out on YouTube’s sprawling San Bruno campus Tuesday afternoon, employees turned to the Internet to share firsthand accounts and reassure loved ones that they had made it to safety.
They marked themselves safe on Facebook. They posted what they witnessed on Twitter. They recorded footage of police crews swarming the company headquarters.
So much remained unknown as YouTube workers hid under their desks and others ran for their lives. It was only later that San Bruno police identified a woman as the suspected shooter. Meanwhile, the Internet became a place of comfort and confirmation.
YouTube employees shared status updates with friends and family to say they were safe and to connect with one another. The investigation continues, but people were able to begin processing a horrific event in real time on what was supposed to be a normal workday.
Just as in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14 in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history, much of the early information came from people posting their traumatizing experiences from the inside. And many did that Tuesday at one of Silicon Valley’s bestknown technology companies.
Google Communications, which owns YouTube and discourages employees from talking to the press, posted a string of updates on Twitter.
“We continue to actively coordinate with local authorities and hospitals,” the company posted. “Our security team has been working closely with authorities to evacuate the buildings and ensure the safety of employees.”
More detailed tweets from employees described a scene of terror as people ran for their lives.
“Active shooter at YouTube HQ,” product manager Vadim Lavrusik posted at 12:57 p.m., minutes after a flood of frantic calls began pouring into 911. “Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.”
Then, at 1:13 p.m., Lavrusik posted: “Safe. Got evacuated ... Outside now.”
Fellow product manager Todd Sherman posted on Twitter that he saw “blood drips on the floor and stairs.” As he evacuated the campus, he said, police cruisers arrived, and officers “hopped out with rifles ready.”
Sherman also let followers and the public know he was safe in a tweet as he apparently took an Uber home. But he continued to describe the mayhem and the fear that “every new person (he) saw was a potential shooter,” as well as how the vibrations of everyone running through YouTube’s headquarters sounded like an earthquake.
“After (exiting) the room, we still didn’t know what was going on, but more people were running,” Sherman tweeted. “Seemed serious and not like a drill.”
Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi, another company product manager, posted on Facebook that he was OK. But he couldn’t be certain about many of his other colleagues. Abdul-Kafi said he was in the courtyard when he saw the shooter: “full body armor, shooting mask on and firing a handgun,” he wrote, adding that he and others “ran as fast as we could.”
The message ended: “I’m on my way home now.”
President Trump shared his own condolences minutes after police provided an update on what had transpired.
“Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTube’s HQ in San Bruno, California,” Trump tweeted. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody involved. Thank you to our phenomenal Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders that are currently on the scene.”
Thousands of tweets continued to pour in after police announced that the suspected shooter had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Late Tuesday, the suspect was identified by law enforcement sources as Nassim Aghdam, a disgruntled YouTube video creator.
YouTube co-founder and former CEO Chad Hurley succinctly posted: “Praying for my friends @Youtube!” Staff writer Sophie Haigney
contributed to this report.