(CNN) The woman who shot three people at YouTube headquarters in Northern California has been identified as Nasim Aghdam, two law enforcement sources told CNN.
The woman took her own life after the shootings. She was found at the scene and appeared to have killed herself with a handgun, but the investigation is just beginning, San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said.
"We know very, very little right now, and we probably won't know more until tomorrow morning," the chief said.
A fourth person was injured as people scrambled off the patio outside the cafe on campus.
The shooter is believed to have known at least one of the victims, two law enforcement officials told CNN.
The shooter's motive was unclear, Barberini said, adding that it's unclear whether the shooting was a domestic violence incident.
A spokesman for Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, a level 1 trauma center, said the facility received three patients. One 36-year-old man was in critical condition, one 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and one 27-year-old woman was in fair condition.
Dr. Andre Campbell said the three patients were all conscious and none had yet gone into surgery. When asked how the patients reacted, Campbell said: "Shocked, like we are every time these terrible things happen."
Man thought it was balloons popping
One witness inside a cafe near the shooting said the gunfire didn't immediately register with him.
"It was a surprise, because you don't really expect something like that," the man told CNN affiliate KPIX . "I heard some pops, I obviously thought it was balloons, but then I thought that doesn't make sense, not today. Then I heard more shots and that's when everyone started scrambling for the door."
Vadim Lavrusik, a YouTube product employee, tweeted he and others hid.
"Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers," he wrote.
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
Not long after the first tweet he wrote: "Safe. Got evacuated it. Outside now."
Another YouTube employee said during the shooting people were trying to get out of the building "as fast as they could."
Police on the scene at YouTube in San Bruno, California.
She said she was on a conference call and a colleague, who heard shots, told her at least one person was shot on the patio where people eat.
"We were all suddenly aware of a lot of noises, of sounds, people running outside of the room where she was. And people screaming," said the employee, who was in a building down the street.
" 'I have to get out of here,' " the woman said her colleague said.
A witness told CNN he heard three or four shots and later more shots. He was in the drive-through line at a Carl's Jr. fast-food restaurant across the street from an end of the YouTube building where there are tables with umbrellas on a patio.
A woman ran over to the Carl's Jr. with a calf wound, he said. People at the fast-food restaurant tried to use napkins to stop the bleeding.
Photos: Shooting at YouTube headquarters Police respond to YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California, after gunshots were reported there on Tuesday, April 3. At least three people were injured in a shooting, according to San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini, and the suspected shooter was found dead. Barberini said the dead woman appeared to take her own life but the investigation was just beginning. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: Shooting at YouTube headquarters Police walk outside the YouTube building. YouTube, which was founded in February 2005, quickly became the most well-known of several online video sites. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: Shooting at YouTube headquarters Workers walk down a street near the YouTube complex. Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: Shooting at YouTube headquarters Burlingame Police Chief Eric Wollman hands a dog named Kimba to a man who didn't give his name but said he worked for YouTube. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: Shooting at YouTube headquarters People gather outside the building. One YouTube employee said people were trying to get out of the building "as fast as they could." Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: Shooting at YouTube headquarters Overhead video from CNN affiliate KGO showed a heavy police presence. People gathered outside, and one by one they were were frisked and patted down by officers. Several roadways near the building were closed to traffic. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: Shooting at YouTube headquarters Officers run toward the building after the shooting. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: Shooting at YouTube headquarters The city of San Bruno received multiple 911 calls from people reporting shots fired, City Manager Connie Jackson told CNN. Hide Caption 8 of 8
The man, who would only give his name as Jesse, said he went over to the shooting site and saw a woman drop to the ground.
"She must have been deceased after that because I didn't hear anything after that," he said.
Police were there quickly
Police were at the scene within two minutes of the initial 911 call, the chief said.
Overhead video from KGO showed a heavy police presence outside the YouTube building. A crowd gathered outside the building and, one by one, people were frisked and patted down by officers. Several roadways near the building were closed to traffic.
President Donald Trump tweeted that he was thinking about the victims.
"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," he wrote.
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
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a leading advocate in the US Senate for tighter gun laws, tweeted she was praying for YouTube employees.
The California Democrat wrote: "My stomach sinks with yet another active shooter alert. I'm praying for the safety of everyone at YouTube headquarters."
My stomach sinks with yet another active shooter alert. I'm praying for the safety of everyone at YouTube headquarters. — Sen Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) April 3, 2018
YouTube is owned by Google
YouTube, which was founded in February 2005, quickly became the most well-known of several online video sites. In 2006 Google said it was purchasing YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.
More than 1,100 people work at the YouTube office in San Bruno. Employees there include engineers working on site search, infrastructure, content channels and ad products; and sales teams that work with advertisers and content creators.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI will help investigate the incident, according to the angencies' San Francisco offices.
San Bruno is about 13 miles south of San Francisco.
Terrified employees fled as gunfire rang out at YouTube's sprawling headquarters in San Bruno, California, on Tuesday, prompting a massive police response and evacuation as victims were transported to nearby hospitals. San Bruno police identified the suspect late Tuesday as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, 39, who was found dead from what authorities believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said three people were transported to local hospitals with gunshot wounds.
His department said it is working to identify a motive for the shooting. Earlier reports indicated the suspect may have known one of the victims, but police said late Tuesday that "at this time there is no evidence that the shooter knew the victims of this shooting or that individuals were specifically targeted."
Barberini said police arrived on scene at 12:48 p.m. local time and encountered frantic employees fleeing the building. "It was very chaotic as you can imagine," he said.
San Bruno Police Department
Responding officers encountered one victim with a gunshot wound toward the front of the building before finding the deceased suspect, Barberini said. Several minutes later, police located two additional victims at an adjacent building.
Barberini later said the suspect used a handgun and there was no further threat to the community.
San Bruno police investigate motive
Police said they are investigating the motive for the shooting, but Aghdam's videos and website are filled with criticism of YouTube. Sources said she initially asked for one of the male victims by name, and that she used 9mm handgun during the shooting.
Jaclyn Schildkraut, an expert on mass shootings research and assistant professor at the State University of New York (SUNY), told CBS News it was "very uncommon" to see a female suspect carry out this type of shooting.
Women made up of only four percent of mass shooting suspects in the U.S. between 1966 and 2016, Schildkraut said. However, Tuesday's shooting might not fit the definition of a mass shooting. The Gun Violence Archive defines it as four or more people shot or killed -- excluding the shooter.
Suspect criticized YouTube
The suspect's father, Ismail Aghdam, told CBS Los Angeles his daughter had gone missing for several days, and that he called police because he was concerned over her recent anger at YouTube. He said police eventually found his daughter and said she was in a car in Mountain View, about 28 miles south of San Bruno.
When the family realized she was close to YouTube's headquarters, they told police she said the company was "ruining her life." He said police told the family they would keep an eye on her. The family believes she did not know anyone at YouTube personally.
A Mountain View Police spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that they located a woman by the same name asleep inside a car early Tuesday. They confirmed that this was a missing person from Southern California and had notified her family.
Ismail Aghdam told Mercury News his daughter was angry because the company stopped paying for content she posted online.
Her website accuses "new closed-minded" YouTube employees of reducing her view count, suppressing her and discouraging her from creating content on the video platform. In a now-deleted video, she complained that YouTube began filtering her page and adding age restrictions her videos.
Hospital update on victims
A spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital told CBS News it has received three patients: a 36-year-old man in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition.
Heavily armed police surrounded the facility, with armed SWAT vehicles stationed outside. Police officers could be seen patting down employees evacuating the campus to a nearby parking lot, where they were surrounded by police cars.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said President Trump has been briefed on the shooting and they are "monitoring the ongoing situation."
Mr. Trump tweeted his "thoughts and prayers" to everyone involved.
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
The FBI and San Francisco Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said it was responding to the scene.
Several employees tweeted they heard gunfire Tuesday afternoon. Vadim Lavrusik said he barricaded himself and others inside a room before they were able to escape safely.
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
Todd Sherman, a product manager at the company, tweeted that he "saw blood drips on the floor and stairs."
I looked down and saw blood drips on the floor and stairs. Peaked around for threats and then we headed downstairs and out the front. — Todd Sherman (@tdd) April 3, 2018
Google, YouTube's parent company, said in a statement that they are "coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available."
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is doing everything it can to support the victims and their families.
"I know a lot of you are in shock right now. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy," Pichai said in a statement.
Where is San Bruno?
YouTube's headquarters is about 12 miles south of downtown San Francisco, close to San Francisco International Airport. It encompasses about 200,000 square feet, and YouTube leases the building from Gap, Inc., according to a 2017 article in the San Francisco Business Times.
Google says there are more than 1,100 employees at the office and that YouTube is San Bruno's largest employer, with a variety of people dedicated engineering and sales. About 43,000 residents live in the city.
The owner of a nearby restaurant told CBS News he was outside smoking a cigarette when he heard several pops. Denny, who didn't want to give his last name, said there was a brief pause in the gunfire before it continued. He said he heard a total of about 15 to 17 shots.
"It went on for awhile, those shots, it wasn't like emptying the clip like 'boom boom boom,' it was more of a slower pace," Denny said.
Police in California have named a woman who opened fire at YouTube’s headquarters in a suburb of San Francisco, injuring three, before killing herself.
Officials from the San Bruno police department identified her as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, who was in her late 30s.
Police said the motivation was unclear, but her father, Ismail Aghdam, told the Bay Area News Group from his San Diego home that she was furious with YouTube because it had stopped paying her for videos she posted on the platform.
Nasim Najafi Aghdam’s online profile shows she was a vegan activist who ran a website called NasimeSabz.com, meaning “Green Breeze” in Persian, where she posted about Persian culture and veganism, as well as long passages critical of YouTube.
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 at about 2am on Tuesday saying they had found her sleeping in a car.
He said he warned them she might be heading to YouTube because she “hated” the company.
A Mountain View police spokeswoman, Katie Nelson, told Associated Press that officers located a woman by the same name asleep in a vehicle in a Mountain View parking lot 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.
Authorities said earlier on Tuesday that the shooting was being investigated as a domestic dispute but in a statement later San Bruno police said “there is no evidence that the shooter knew the victims of this shooting or that individuals were specifically targeted”.
A spokesman for San Francisco General hospital said a 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in a serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in a fair condition.
A female shooter is a rarity: an FBI study of 160 “active shooter” incidents between 2000 and 2013 found only six incidents, or 3.8%, were perpetrated by a female shooter.
News of Tuesday’s shooting initially spread on social media as YouTube employees posted about barricading themselves inside rooms as police and ambulances arrived at the scene.
“Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers,” tweeted Vadim Lavrusik, a YouTube employee.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Officials from the San Bruno police department identified the woman as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, Photograph: AP
Another YouTube employee, Michael Ho, said he was on the phone with his wife in an open-plan area when he saw people running. “At first I wasn’t sure if it was something they were doing for fun,” he said, before noticing looks of panic on people’s faces.
Aerial footage shot by CBS News showed staff leaving the building with their hands in the air. Offices of other companies nearby were also on lockdown.
Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google, YouTube’s parent company, said in an email to staff the shooting was an “unimaginable tragedy” and that the company was working to support the victims and their families.
Aghdam’s social media posts highlighted pro-vegan views and criticised animal cruelty. She was also quoted in a 2009 story in the San Diego Union-Tribune about a protest by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals against the use of pigs in military trauma training. “For me, animal rights equal human rights,” Aghdam told the Union-Tribune at the time.
YouTube terminated Aghdam’s account following the shooting. Her Instagram and Facebook accounts have also been removed.
A screenshot of a video posted on Aghnam’s YouTube channel before it was taken down showed her complaining that “YouTube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views.”
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
Video
• Three people were injured by gunfire, one of them critically, in a shooting at YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, Calif., on Tuesday afternoon.
• The San Bruno Police Department identified the attacker, who died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, who was in her late 30s.
• President Trump has been briefed and tweeted “thoughts and prayers” to the victims.
Here is the latest information on the attack.
Three victims are shot
Chief Ed Barberini of the San Bruno Police Department said at a news conference that three victims had been transported away with gunshot wounds. He had previously indicated that there were four shooting victims; the discrepancy stemmed from the fact that at least one person was injured while fleeing the building but not shot.
The gunshot victims were taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the only Level 1 trauma center in San Francisco. Brent Andrew, a spokesman for the hospital, said at a news conference that a 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition.
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(READ MORE: Law enforcement officials were still investigating the attack at the YouTube headquarters Tuesday.)
Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google, which owns YouTube, said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon that Google was “doing everything we can to support them and their families at this time.”
A suspect is dead
The police found a woman, believed to be the attacker and later identified as Ms. Aghdam, dead in the building from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Social media postings associated with her included a video in which she criticized YouTube.
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Chief Barberini said that the suspect had used a handgun, and that there was no evidence of a second attacker.
Ms. Aghdam’s gender is noteworthy because mass shootings are almost always perpetrated by men. An F.B.I. study released in 2014 found that, from 2000 to 2013, women were responsible for only six of 160 mass shootings in the United States.
Gunshots, then a stampede to the exits
When the police arrived, two minutes after receiving 911 calls, they had to wade through YouTube employees fleeing the building.
Many employees interviewed outside said they had initially thought the episode was a fire drill. Others said they ran when people started shouting that there was a shooter.
Zach Vorhies, 37, a senior software engineer at YouTube, said in an interview that he had been sitting at his desk when the fire alarm went off, and that he grabbed his electric skateboard and headed for the back exit. As he rode down a gravel hill, he said, he heard someone shouting and saw a man lying motionless in one of the office’s outdoor dining areas.
“He had a red spot on his stomach, and he was lying on his back, not moving,” Mr. Vorhies said. “I saw the blood soak through the shirt.”
About 25 feet away from the victim, he said, a heavyset man wearing gray was shouting, “Come at me!” Mr. Vorhies thought the man was the attacker, but he did not see a gun, and said it was possible the man had actually “been taunting the shooter.”
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The dining area can be reached from an adjacent parking structure without an employee badge, Mr. Vorhies said.
In a nearby parking lot to which 200 or so employees had evacuated, armed police officers waded into the crowd. The police asked for employees who had witnessed something firsthand to come forward, and about two dozen people, some visibly distraught, walked over to the officers.
Vadim Lavrusik, a YouTube employee who formerly worked for The New York Times, tweeted just before 1 p.m. that there was an “active shooter at YouTube HQ” and that he had “heard shots and saw people running while at my desk.” He said that he was barricaded in a room with co-workers, but moments later tweeted that he had been safely evacuated.
The president has been briefed
By 2:15 p.m., President Trump had been briefed on the shooting, and Cameron Rogers Polan, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Division of the F.B.I., said in an email that the agency was in contact with the San Bruno police. The San Francisco division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tweeted that it, too, was responding to the attack.
Rattled by a mass shooting in their midst, several Silicon Valley giants tweeted their concern — and acknowledged the role their own platforms had played in spreading false information during this and other violence.
“We’re also aware of the misinformation being spread on Twitter,” Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of Twitter, tweeted. “We’re tracking, learning, and taking action.”
