YouTube News: Mass-shooting in YouTube HQ at Silicon Valley Campus - Shooter committed suicide.
YouTube HQ shooting: Father of dead female suspect warned police on day of attack she 'hated' company.
The father
of the woman identified as the YouTube HQ shooter said he had warned police she
might be headed to the video-sharing site's offices because she
"hated" the company. Nasim Aghdam, 39, of Southern California, was
identified by US media as the woman who approached the Silicon Valley campus
around lunchtime on Tuesday and began to fire before entering the building of
the Google-owned video sharing service. One man and two women were shot in the
incident before the female shooter apparently committed suicide. Hospital
officials have said the 36-year-old man is in critical condition and two women,
aged 32 and 27, are in a serious and fair condition. A fourth person hurt
suffered a sprained or broken ankle.
Aghdam was
angry at YouTube because it had stopped paying her for videos she posted on the
platform, her father told the Bay Area News Group. People who post on YouTube
can receive money from advertisements that accompany their videos, but the
company "de-monetizes" some channels for reasons including
inappropriate material or having fewer than 1,000 subscribers. YouTube had
"stopped everything," and "she was angry," Ismail Aghdam
told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from his San Diego home.
Ismail Aghdam said he reported his daughter missing on Monday after she did not
answer her phone for two days. He said the family received a call from Mountain
View police around 2am on Tuesday saying they found Nasim sleeping in a car. He
said he warned them she might be headed to YouTube because she
"hated" the company. Mountain View Police spokeswoman Katie Nelson
confirmed officers located a woman by the same name asleep in a vehicle asleep
in a Mountain View car park on Tuesday morning. Nelson said the woman declined
to answer further questions but the police spokeswoman did not respond to a
question about whether police were warned Aghdam might go to YouTube.
“Our family
is in absolute shock and can’t make sense of what has happened yesterday,” said
Aghdam’s father, in a statement issued on behalf of the family. “Although no
words can describe our deep pain for this tragedy, our family would like to
express their utmost regret, sorrow for what has happened to innocent victims.”The
family said they hoped for a speedy recovery for those injured in what they
termed a “horrific, senseless act”. They said they were struggling to come to
terms with the “chaotic situation”.
Chief Ed
Barberini of San Bruno police, who said the weapon used was a handgun, said the
first 911 calls came at 12:46pm. His officers were on the scene two minutes
later.“Upon arriving, officers found a chaotic situation with employees
streaming out of the building,” he said.“We did encounter one victim with
apparent gunshot wound towards the front of the building as we arrived.“Several
minutes later, while conducting a search of the premises, officers located a
second individual with a gunshot wound that appeared to be self-inflicted None
of the victims were named last night, but Fox News reported that one of the
victims was the shooter's boyfriend, and police were not treating the incident
as terrorism.
Mass
shootings by women are exceptionally rare. A FBI study of shootings from 2000
to 2013 found that, of 160 incidents, only six were carried out by a female
attacker.
PresidentDonald Trump said that he was monitoring events, and wrote on Twitter:
"Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTube’s HQ in San Bruno,
California. 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.".
Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTube’s HQ in San Bruno, California. 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.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 3, 2018
SundarPichai, Chief Executive Officer of Google, wrote to staff saying "the best
information we have right now is that the situation is contained"."I
know a lot of you are in shock right now," he wrote. "Over the coming
days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family
heal from this unimaginable tragedy."
There are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred today. @SusanWojcicki & I are focused on supporting our employees & 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.— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) April 3, 2018
Employees
describe chaos:
Shaken
YouTube employees were left reeling from the incident, which was over in less
than an hour. Todd Sherman, a product manager in the building, wrote on
Twitter: "We were sitting in a
meeting and then we heard people running because it was rumbling the floor.
First thought was earthquake."On the way out of the building he
"looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs”. He added:
"Police cruisers pulled up, hopped out with rifles ready and I told them
where the situation was."
VadimLavrusik, a YouTube employee, tweeted that he and his colleagues were inside
the offices and saw people running and barricaded themselves inside the offices.
After around 20 minutes he tweeted again to say that he had been evacuated. His
account was then hacked, with the perpetrator posting misinformation about the
shooting.
Active shooter at YouTube HQ. Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers.— Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018
Safe. Got evacuated it. Outside now.— Vadim Lavrusik (@Lavrusik) April 3, 2018
In a
statement Google, which owns YouTube, said: "Regarding the YouTube
situation, we are coordinating with authorities and will provide official
information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available."The San
Bruno offices house 1,700 employees in a largely open-plan environment, in four
different buildings. There is security at all the buildings, the employee told
CNN. YouTube announced last month that it would ban content promoting the sale
of guns and gun accessories as well as videos that teach how to make guns.
by The Telegraph
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