In the hours before the YouTube Shooting that occurred on Tuesday (April 3), Police officers reportedly found shooter Nasim Aghdam asleep in her car at a Mountain View, California strip mall prior to the shooting. Police made contact with Aghdam at the shopping center only 25 miles away from YouTube's San Bruno headquarters, and conducted a 20 minute interview with the subject, according to a Wednesday (April 4) press release.
At 2 AM PST, officers found the suspect asleep in her car and woke her up to conduct a welfare check. Officers reported that Aghdam told them that she was in the area looking for a job, and was staying with relatives.
The Mountain View police officers let the suspect go, and Mountain View Police Chief Max Bosel noted, "It was a very normal conversation. There was nothing in her behavior that suggested anything unusual."
Police Chief reports 'normal conversation' in pre-shooting interview
Despite Police Chief Bosel reporting "normal conversation," Aghdam visited a gun range just hours after the interview, before wounding three and turning the weapon on herself before law enforcement arrived. Her motive in the range visit is currently still under investigation, and police are operating under the assumption that the gun was owned legally, unless evidence to the contrary surfaces. Two women injured in the incident were released from the hospital Wednesday (April 4), while one male victim remains in serious condition.
Nasim Aghdam used the name "Nasime Sabz" online, and ran a YouTube channel dedicated to veganism, promoting exercise, glamour shots of herself, and fighting animal cruelty. Based on the uncovered facts so far in the investigation, it seems that YouTube demonetizing her channel may have played a role in the event, along with the shooter's frustration toward the company.
Shooter's father may have warned police before shooting
Ismail Aghdam, Nasim Aghdam's father, says he contacted local law enforcement the day before the deadly San Bruno shooting to warn that his daughter "hated" the massive tech company due to the recent demonetization of her YouTube channel, and may have been planning to visit the headquarters.
Mountain View Police, however, denied that they had been contacted with information regarding the suspect.
Updates in this story come amid heated gun control debate in Washington DC and around the nation after the horrific February massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead.
