Police officials identify YouTube shooter as Southern California woman, are investigating motive

Police outside YouTube headquarters in San Bruno — (Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Law enforcement officials tell The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times that the woman who shot three people with a handgun before apparently fatally shooting herself at YouTube's headquarters south of San Francisco was Nasim Aghdam of Southern California. Police in San Bruno have not confirmed the name publicly. Investigators originally suggested that the shooting was sparked by a domestic dispute, but one law enforcement source tells the L.A. Times that police are also looking into a website in which a woman with a similar name complains about YouTube taking down some of her videos and limiting traffic to her YouTube channel.

The San Francisco Chronicle, which confirmed that a car towed from the YouTube parking lot was registered to Aghdam, identifies the YouTube user Nasim Aghdam as a vegan animal rights activist who posted a wide range of videos on topics ranging from vegan cooking to workouts to music video parodies. The three people she allegedly shot during lunch in a YouTube courtyard are in critical to fair condition, and a fourth person suffered an ankle injury while fleeing the shooting.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.