Woman shoots 3, self at YouTube in possible domestic dispute

By The Associated Press and News Staff

Two law enforcement sources tell The Associated Press that the shooting at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California is being investigated as a domestic dispute.

A woman opened fire at YouTube’s headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area Tuesday, wounding three people before she shot and killed herself, police and witnesses said.

Officers and federal agents swarmed the company’s headquarters complex in the city of San Bruno around 1 p.m as multiple 911 reports came in reporting gunfire.

San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini told reporters that the three victims have gunshot wounds and were taken to hospital. A fourth person was also taken to hospital but was not shot, but rather injured while fleeing the scene.

A spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital says it received three patients. Spokesman Brent Andrew says a 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition. The hospital is not expecting more patients.

During a press conference, police said they arrived to find a chaotic scene with numerous panicked employees fleeing the area.

One victim was found with an apparent gunshot wound in front of the main entrance of the building. Two other victims were found at an adjacent business.

After searching the building, a female suspected to be the shooter was located with what’s believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said the weapon used was a handgun.

Police say the scene is still an active investigation, with officers combing the area and interviewing witnesses.

Television news footage showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they were leaving the building. Officers patted down people to make sure none had weapons, and police vehicles surrounded the area

A witness on scene described the chaos as people tried to help the wounded. He says one person “got shot 10 times.”

YouTube parent company Google tweeted at 4:30 p.m. saying they were co-ordinating with authorities and later that their security team has been working with authorities to evacuate buildings after the shooting. The company advised employees and others to stay away from the area and that it’s set up a help line for workers.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent a note to employees calling the incident and “unimaginable tragedy”, while YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki tweeted out saying, ” Our deepest gratitude to law enforcement and first responders for their rapid response.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says it’s also responding to the shooting at YouTube’s suburban campus.

The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on a shooting at YouTube headquarters and that officials were monitoring it.

President Trump tweeted his thoughts and prayers for the victims and thanked first responders.

Earlier in the afternoon, Vadim Lavrusik, product manager at YouTube, tweeted that he heard shots and saw people running while at his desk around 1 p.m.

Shortly after he tweeted saying he was safely evacuated along with co-workers.

Will Hudson said his friend who works for YouTube texted him about the shooter.

“I think there might be a shooter in my building,” read one text. “The fire alarm went off so we started to evacuate and then people (started) running saying there was a shooter.”

Hudson said his friend has made it safely back to San Francisco and is in contact with his family. Hudson said he’s become accustomed to hearing about such violence but has never been so close to it before.

“It just feels strange. It feels like it could really be anyone. That’s really the strangeness of it,” he said.

Calls and emails to YouTube representatives were not immediately returned.

This story has been corrected to remove a reference that patients were taken to Stanford Hospital because the hospital now says it gave incorrect information about receiving patients from the shooting.

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