Female YouTube Shooter Was Angry At the Company
Yesterday another random act of violence struck an unsuspecting group, this time at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California. Nasim Najafi Aghdam used a semi-automatic 9mm handgun to wound three people and take her own life. Aghdam was 39 years old.
The shooter’s family stated she was distressed over YouTube no longer paying her the videos she produced on social media site. Aghdam published videos on veganism, fitness, and other socioeconomic issues, and had thousands of subscribers and views. Her page was removed by late Tuesday afternoon.
What makes this shooting unique is that the shooter was a woman where typically these incidents occur at the hands of men. It should also be noted that California has strict gun laws and the now deceased shooter purchased the weapon legally.
The woman who authorities say shot three people at YouTube’s headquarters on Tuesday before killing herself was fueled by anger at the company and its policies, according to police and family members.
“It is believed the suspect was upset with the policies and practices of YouTube,” said Ed Barberini, the chief of police in San Bruno, Calif., where YouTube’s headquarters is located. “This appears to be the motive for this incident.”
Police said Nasim Najafi Aghdam, 39, of San Diego, opened fire seemingly indiscriminately on the YouTube campus with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun she had legally purchased. Aghdam turned the gun on herself before police found her, they said.
Barberini said Aghdam, who had been reported missing on Monday, visited a local gun range the morning of the shooting. Before that happened, police in Mountain View, Calif., said they encountered Aghdam sleeping in her car there early Tuesday morning, just hours before the gunfire at YouTube’s offices. Mountain View, home to Google, YouTube’s owner, is located about 25 miles south of San Bruno.
Aghdam’s relatives have said that they warned police that Aghdam, an active YouTube user, had expressed frustration with the company.
The Mountain View police said in a statement Tuesday that Aghdam never mentioned YouTube to the officers, did not discuss harming herself or anyone else and they had no reason to detain her.
“Throughout our entire interaction with her, she was calm and cooperative,” the Mountain View police statement said. “At the conclusion of our interaction with her, she in no way met any reason for us to speak with her further or possibly detain her.”
According to the Mountain View police, they spoke to Aghdam’s father and brother, but neither of them mentioned “anything about potential acts of violence or a possibility of Aghdam lashing out as a result of her issues with her videos.”
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday about whether the company had been contacted by police or any authorities about Aghdam.
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
