The shooter who opened fire and injured three people at the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno on Wednesday has been identified as Nasim Aghdam. Californian news outlets said she appeared to be a vegan-themed content creator who has raged against YouTube on her personal website for what she saw as censorship of her videos.
"There is no free speech in real world and you will be suppressed for telling the truth that is not supported by the system," read a post on a website identified as hers by the San Francisco Chronicle. "There is no equal growth opportunity on YouTube or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to (sic)," she further said on her website.
The shooter has been identified as content creator Nasim Aghdam. Image courtesy: @tina_patel/Twitter
Aghdam, in her late thirties, also said that "YouTube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views".
CNET reported that she did not have any relationship with anyone at YouTube.
Amid a chaotic scene in the city of San Bruno, a woman believed to be the shooter was found dead at the scene of the Google-owned video sharing service, reported AFP.
"We have one subject who is deceased inside the building with a self-inflicted wound," San Bruno police chief Ed Barberini told reporters. "At this time, we believe it to be the shooter."
Officers arriving to numerous calls for help saw employees running from the building, and found a person out front who appeared to be shot in the leg, according to police.
Four people, three suffering from gunshot wounds, were taken to local hospitals, police said. The fourth person hurt suffered a sprained or broken ankle.
"I know a lot of you are in shock right now," Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a message to employees shared by the company on Twitter.
"I am grateful to everyone inside and outside the company for the outpouring of support and best wishes."
He thanked emergency workers for springing into action to help, and said that he and YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki were focused on supporting employees in the aftermath of the violence.
Shootings by women are a rare occurrence in the United States, where the overwhelming majority of gun violence is carried out by men.
According to an FBI study that looked at 160 incidents involving one or more shooters in public places between 2000 and 2013, just six of the people who opened fire were women, or 3.8 percent.
With inputs from AFP
Published Date: Apr 04, 2018 10:46 AM | Updated Date: Apr 04, 2018 10:56 AM