3 Shot At YouTube Headquarters
Three people were shot Tuesday at the Silicon Valley headquarters of YouTube when a woman opened fire before turning the gun on herself. The violence broke out just after noon in a courtyard outside YouTube’s main building in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno. Police have identified the shooter as 39 year old Nasim Najafi Aghdam.
Aghdam was a frequent uploader to YouTube who’d had videos banned from the streaming service for “multiple or severe violations” of its policy. Beginning in 2010, she posted more than 500 videos, a total of 17 hours about fitness, veganism and animal rights. About a year ago she started expressing her anger with YouTube’s censorship. “My new videos hardly get views … so this is because I’m being filtered,” Aghdam said in one video.
In one online video, Aghdam accused YouTube of censoring her and depriving her of income from advertising. The woman’s grievances against YouTube appear to focus on censorship and revenue. “There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to!!!!!” one post reads. “Youtube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views!” Another post accuses “close-minded” YouTube employees of putting an age restriction on videos, saying it’s aimed at reducing views and discouraging the woman from making new videos.
On April 2, 2018, Aghdam was reported missing by her family. On April 3rd at 1:40 AM, police officers found her sleeping in her car in a Walmart parking lot in Mountain View, 25 miles south of YouTube’s headquarters. After speaking with her for 20 minutes they did not identify her as a threat or have any reason to detain her. They notified her family that she had been found.
Later that morning Aghdam practiced shooting her legally purchased 9 MM Smith & Wesson at a gun range in San Bruno. She then parked near YouTube headquarters and entered the campus on foot. After walking through a parking garage into a courtyard she opened fire with a handgun, wounding three people before killing herself. Police say she had no connection to her victims her motive was apparently a grievance with YouTube’s practices and policies. Two of her victims have been released from the hospital and one was listed in serious condition.
More than 1,100 people work at the YouTube campus in San Bruno, south of San Francisco. Employees there include engineers for the site and sales teams that work with advertisers and content creators. The company said Wednesday it will increase security at its headquarters and offices around the world.
