YouTube employees recounted dramatic scenes as they fled the headquarters of the Google-owned video sharing service near San Francisco
A woman opened fire with a 9 mm handgun at YouTube's headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday, wounding three people before shooting herself dead as employees of the Silicon Valley tech company fled into the surrounding streets, authorities said.
Police did not identify the suspect or say what might have motivated the shooting at YouTube, a video-sharing service owned by Alphabet Inc's Google which employs nearly 2,000 people at the San Bruno, California offices.
The woman approached an outdoor patio and dining courtyard on the campus around lunchtime and began to fire before entering the building, police said.
The San Jose Mercury News, citing a law enforcement source, said that she was targeting her boyfriend due to a domestic dispute.
A U.S. government security official told Reuters there was no known connection to terrorism.
ABC News, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, said the suspect was 35 to 40 years old, and lived in Southern California, with no apparent connection to YouTube.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai thanked the police and first responders for their efforts.
"There are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred today. Susan Wojcicki and I are focused on supporting our employees and the YouTube community through this difficult time together. Thank you to the police & first responders for their efforts, and to all for msgs of support," he tweeted. YouTube headquarters is located some 30 miles (50 kilometres) from the main Google campus in Mountain View.
1. Woman who allegedly carried out YouTube shooting is identified by police
The person who allegedly shot at least three people at YouTube's campus on Tuesday afternoon has been identified as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, according to senior law enforcement officials. The woman, who was 39 years old, is believed to have carried out the attack because of a domestic dispute, officials said. The authorities said terrorism did not appear to be a motive at this time.
The shooter used a 9 mm handgun.
Aghdam, who authorities say last lived in the San Diego area, had previously claimed in a video that YouTube "discriminated and filtered" her content, according to NBC Bay Area.
Police chief Ed Barberini of San Bruno city, 19 km from San Francisco, said the suspect, a female shooter, appeared to have shot herself after injuring multiple people at the campus of the YouTube facility.
"We did locate a victim with what we believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound," said Barberini. "It's a female, but the investigation is still ongoing before we can put all the pieces together."
2. Google issues statement on the shooting: Google, the parent company of YouTube, issued a statement, saying that "We continue to actively coordinate with local authorities and hospitals. Our security team has been working closely with authorities to evacuate the buildings and ensure the safety of employees in the area".
3. 4 injured in the YouTube shooting: "We have a 32-year-old female who is in a serious condition, a 27-year-old female in a fair condition, and a 36-year-old male in a critical condition," KPIX 5 TV quoted Brent Andrew, spokesman for Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, as saying.
The shooting took place in an outdoor cafe at the YouTube campus in San Bruno in the US, which houses at least 1,700 employees.
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