News

These YouTube Headquarters Active Shooter Updates Reveal What Actually Happened

by Seth Millstein
Ethan Miller/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Police responded Tuesday to an active shooter situation at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, California. Although the story is still developing by the minute, updates to the YouTube shooting have slowly been trickling in from reporters, police, and people who work at the company.

San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said that the suspected shooter was a woman, and that she is deceased. According to NBC News, at least three people are being treated for shooting-related injuries at San Francisco General Hospital, and Stanford Hospital is expecting 4-5 patients from the shooting as well, according to journalist Matthew Keys. The Los Angeles Times reports that at least two people were struck by gunfire.

A spokesman for San Francisco General said that it received a 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. It's unclear if these are the only victims.

Employees said that the shooting began around lunch time, when many employees were eating at an outdoor patio cafe on YouTube's campus, according to the Verge. YouTube product manager Todd Sherman wrote in a tweet that he and several colleagues heard the floor rumbling from people running and initially thought it was an earthquake.

"Active shooter at YouTube HQ," another YouTube employee tweeted shortly before 1:00 p.m. PT Tuesday. "Heard shots and saw people running while at my desk. Now barricaded inside a room with coworkers." A half hour later, San Bruno police confirmed that they were investigating an active shooter in the area, and warned people to stay away from Cherry Ave & Bay Hill Drive in San Bruno.

The same employee later tweeted that he had been evacuated, and eyewitness photos appeared to show YouTube employees walking single-file out of the building with their hands in the air. A YouTube UX designer later confirmed that this had happened, writing in a tweet that she "got evacuated outside with my hands up." She added that she "saw blood drops on the stairs."

Salahoden Abdul-Kafi, another product manager at YouTube, wrote on Facebook that the shooter "had a shooting mask on, full body armor and was calmly walking and firing a handgun." Authorities haven't confirmed what the shooter was wearing or what kind of gun they used.

San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson told KTVU that there is no longer any threat to the public, and that there are "adequate police responders handling the situation." Aerial footage showed dozens of policer officers at the scene, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms confirmed on Twitter that it is investigating the shooting as well.

"Was just briefed on the shooting at YouTube’s HQ in San Bruno, California," President Trump tweeted shortly before 3:00 p.m. PT. "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."

One San Bruno resident told SFGATE that he was ordering a hamburger at a Carl's Jr. across the street from YouTube's headquarters when he heard three shots ring out in quick succession. He said that he saw a woman come out of the office who had been shot in the leg, and that he helped her into the Carl's Jr.

Around 1,700 people work at the San Bruno headquarters, according to ABC 7; although the video website is owned by Google, its campus is around 30 minutes away from the Google compound in Mountain View. Google wrote on Twitter that it is "coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available."