THE woman who opened fire at YouTube’s headquarters in California, wounding three people before taking her own life, believed she was being suppressed by the website and told her family she “hated” the company.
Investigators do not believe Nasim Aghdam targeted the victims when she pulled out a handgun and fired off several rounds in a courtyard at the company’s headquarters on Tuesday.
Aghdam reportedly had a longstanding dispute with the company. Officials said Aghdam used the name Nasime Sabz online.
A website in that name criticised the website’s policies. “Youtube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views!” one of the messages on the site said. “There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to!!!!!”
Aghdam was angry that the company stopped paying her for videos she posted, her father, Ismail Aghdam, told local media.
On Monday, he called police to report his daughter missing after she did not answer the phone for two days and warned officers that she might go to YouTube, he said.
Officers in Mountain View – 30 miles from YouTube’s headquarters – found her sleeping in her vehicle in a car park at around 2am on Tuesday but let her go after she refused to answer questions. They concluded that she was not a threat to herself or others.
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