YOUTUBE SHOOTING: FEMALE SUSPECT DEAD, 4 INJURED
Hospitals receive patients after incident south of San Francisco
“Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.”
Vadim Lavrusik on Twitter
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – A female suspect is dead after opening fire at YouTube’s headquarters in northern California on Tuesday in a shooting that left at least four people injured, authorities said.
Police swarmed the three-story building around noon after reports of an active gunman. The gunman, a woman, was found dead after an apparent suicide, San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said at a news conference.
Barberini said the injured were found at the building and at an adjacent business. Police cautioned people to stay away from the building, which is on Cherry Avenue, about 11 miles south of San Francisco.
Several hospitals said they received patients, including Stanford Health Care, which told USA TODAY that it was receiving four to five patients. Their conditions were not released.
Brent Andrew, a spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital, said it received three patients — a woman and two men. One person was in critical condition.
Andrew did not say whether the wounds were a result of gunshots.
Photos on social media showed dozens of people being escorted by law enforcement out of the building with their hands up. Employees of the company said they heard what sounded like shots and took cover.
Helicopter footage showed those inside being patted down by police.
Google, which owns YouTube, said in a statement on Twitter “we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.”
Those inside the building posted updates as the incident was unfolding.
“Active shooter at YouTube HQ,” Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter. “Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.”
Lavrusik, who said he works at the company, said he got out safely and was evacuated.
YouTube was created in a San Bruno storefront above a pizza parlor and later moved into a facility, still in San Bruno, about 30 miles from the main Google campus in Mountain View and 14 miles from San Francisco, right off the 280 freeway.
After Google bought YouTube, it has maintained a large campus in San Bruno, where many top executives work.
The building is clearly marked with a big YouTube sign on Cherry Avenue.
Visitors enter a sparsely decorated lobby, where a receptionist sits under a YouTube logo. Guests are asked to sign in before going upstairs to the executive floors. The layout is Google-like with wide and open spaces and a “playground” area of sorts in the middle of the floors.
Google-colored bean bags, guitars and a bright red slide dot the floor. Unlimited free, healthful foods including granola, coffees and chocolates are displayed in kitchens.
The reports of a shooting come about seven weeks after a rampage at a Parkland, Fla., high school left 17 dead and re-ignited a debate about gun control.
A Snapchat Map of the YouTube area showed the scene as employees left the building and police entered the area.