A woman reported to be in her 30s opened fire at YouTube’s headquarters in California on Tuesday, wounding three people in the process and also shooting herself dead, as employees of the tech company fled into the surrounding streets for safety.
Tech CEOs have sent out messages of support, but most importantly, are calling for stricter gun control.
Here is the note that @sundarpichai just sent to Googlers worldwide. pic.twitter.com/bdC6KeTl9c
— Google Communications (@Google_Comms) April 3, 2018
Police could not identify the suspect or say what might have motivated the shooting rampage at YouTube (a video-sharing service owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google).
However, according to Reuters, the woman was identified by local media to be Nasim Aghdam, who was linked to a particular website called, NasimeSabz.com. The website had posts accusing YouTube of not sharing enough revenue with the publishers on its platform.
A post on the Website read:
There is no equal growth opportunity on YouTube, or any other video-sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to.
Tech CEOs React!
Although tech companies have always avoided discussions on gun control in America, this attack seems to have necessitated some reactions. Following the shooting, executives of major tech companies such as Twitter and Uber have called for stricter gun control.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey posted a tweet calling for gun control:
We can’t keep being reactive to this, thinking and praying it won’t happen again at our schools, jobs, or our community spots. It’s beyond time to evolve our policies. This is a simple and reasonable approach, and it won’t solve all, but it’s a good start: https://t.co/ADYalbaO57 https://t.co/nbXpH9DDyT
— jack⚡️ (@jack) April 3, 2018
Following suit, Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi posted his support, also with a plea to end gun violence.
On behalf of the team at @Uber, sending support to everyone @YouTube and @Google, and gratitude to the heroic first responders. Another tragedy that should push us again to #EndGunViolence
— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) April 3, 2018
The likes of Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos were not left out, as they made tweets sharing their heartfelt wishes to Youtube and the families of the victims. However, they notably avoided lending their voice to the gun control debate.
Horrible and truly tragic day for YouTube and Google. We are wishing all our very best for the injured and all those affected.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 3, 2018
From everyone at Apple, we send our sympathy and support to the team at YouTube and Google, especially the victims and their families.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 3, 2018
Former YouTube CEO, Chad Hurley also posted on the incident, praying for his friends at YouTube.
Praying for my friends @YouTube!
— Chad Hurley (@Chad_Hurley) April 3, 2018
We, at Technext.ng, send our warmest wishes for the victims’ quick recovery. We also agree that it’s time to #EndGunViolence.