Police say there was no reason to arrest Nasim Aghdam (above), a woman found sleeping in her car hours before she entered YouTube headquarters and shot three people before taking her own life
Police in Northern California say there was no reason to arrest a woman found sleeping in her car hours before she entered YouTube headquarters and shot three people before taking her own life.
The Mountain View Police Department released a statement on Thursday in response to criticism that officers should have arrested Nasim Aghdam when they had an opportunity to do so just after 1:30am on Tuesday.
Aghdam, 39, had been reported missing by her family in Southern California on Saturday.
Her father also warned police that his daughter hated YouTube.
But Mountain View Police say when officers questioned Aghdam after finding her asleep in a car parked in a lot in San Bruno, there was no indication in her demeanor that she posed a threat to YouTube or anyone else.
After officers confirmed that the woman was the same one named in the missing persons report filed by her family, they asked her a series of questions.
‘She stated she had come to the area to stay with family and while she was currently living out of her vehicle, she was in the process of looking for a job,’ the Mountain View Police Department said in a statement.
‘During our contact with her, she was asked a series of questions including, but not limited to, if she was a danger to herself or others.
Mountain View Police say when officers questioned Aghdam after finding her asleep in a car parked in a lot in San Bruno, there was no indication in her demeanor that she posed a threat to YouTube or anyone else. Law enforcement officers above are seen at the crime scene Tuesday
‘At no point during our roughly 20 minute interaction with her did she mention anything about YouTube, if she was upset with them, or that she had planned to harm herself or others.
‘Throughout our entire interaction with her, she was calm and cooperative.
‘At the conclusion of our interaction with her, she in no way met any reason for us to speak with her further or possibly detain her.’
Police said that after their conversation with Aghdam, they contacted her father and brother, who confirmed that there was strife at home.
‘At no point during that conversation did either Aghdam’s father or brother make any statements regarding the woman’s potential threat to, or a possible attack on, the YouTube campus,’ the police said.
‘Also, there was no indication from either Aghdam or her family that she may have been in possession of any weapons.’
The father of Nasim Aghdam, 39 (pictured), who shot three people and then took her own life at YouTube’s headquarters on Tuesday warned police that his daughter hated the company
Ismail Aghdam said the family called police on Monday to report his daughter missing after she failed to answer her cellphone for two days. On Tuesday around 2am, Mountain View Police called the family to report that they had found Nasim (left in 2009 and right at one year bold) sleeping in her car and that everything was ‘under control’
An hour later, the father, Ismail Aghdam, and his son called police back to inform them of her anger at YouTube over a series of vegan-inspired videos that the Google-run firm had ‘filtered.’
But police say that the father and brother did not seem overly concerned and that nothing he said indicated that his daughter might commit any acts of violence against YouTube.
‘They remained calm throughout this second phone call,’ the police said.
Nasim Aghdam had told her family a few weeks ago that YouTube had ‘stopped everything,’ and ‘she was angry,’ Ismail Aghdam told The Mercury News earlier this week.
Ismail Aghdam said the family called police on Monday to report his daughter missing after she failed to answer her cellphone for two days.
He added that he even warned police that she might be heading to YouTube’s headquarters because she ‘hated’ the company.
On Tuesday around 2am, Mountain View Police called the family to report that they had found Nasim sleeping in her car and that everything was ‘under control’.
Mountain View police confirmed to Mercury News on Tuesday night that a woman of the same name had been found asleep in a vehicle early Tuesday morning in a parking lot.
‘Our officers made contact with the woman after the license plate of her vehicle matched that of a missing person out of Southern California,’ said Mountain View Police spokeswoman Katie Nelson.
‘The woman confirmed her identity to us and answered subsequent questions. At the conclusion of our discussion, her family was notified that she had been located.’
Ismail Aghdam described his daughter as a vegan activist and an animal lover.
According to state records, she had once established a charity called Peace Thunder Inc, to ‘educate people about animal cruelty, environmental pollution’ and other causes.
Ismail Aghdam described his daughter as a vegan activist and an animal lover (Nasim Aghdam had once posted this old, doctored family photo with her parents)
Nasim Aghdam had a significant online presence with multiple YouTube channels and social media pages. She posted an array of videos including workout clips, animal abuse videos and vegan cooking tutorials, reported the Mercury News.
In a video that Aghdam posted back in January 2017, she vented about her content being ‘discriminated and filtered’.
She also said that her YouTube channel, which had more than 5,000 subscribers, used to get many views but claimed she started getting less when the company started ‘filtering’ her videos.
Aghdam’s YouTube channels and social media pages were all removed in the hours after the shooting.
She claimed she had at least four YouTube channels, one in English, and then others in Farsi and Turkish.
Officers and federal agents swarmed YouTube’s headquarters complex just before 1pm after dozens of panicked employees called 911 to report gunfire.
Aghdam was a prolific YouTuber who had ranted online against the company’s new policies and for ‘censoring her videos and not paying her’
Aghdam had a significant online presence with multiple YouTube channels and social media pages. She posted an array of videos including workout clips, animal abuse videos and vegan cooking tutorials
Upon arrival, police found the woman dead inside the campus with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said three people were taken to hospitals in San Francisco with gunshot wounds.
A 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition following the shooting.
Television news footage showed terrified employees leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air for police to inspect as they were leaving the building.
Officers patted down people to make sure none had weapons as police vehicles surrounded the area.
Authorities cover a body with a yellow tarp at YouTube’s headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday
Witnesses say Aghdam was wearing glasses and a scarf when she opened fire on YouTube employees
Law enforcement officials initially said the shooting was being investigated as a domestic dispute after early indications suggested she had shot her boyfriend.
Witnesses say Aghdam was wearing glasses and a scarf when she opened fire on YouTube employees.
Law enforcement officials initially said the shooting was being investigated as a domestic dispute after early indications suggested she had shot her boyfriend.
Police did not release any further information on the suspect or comment on her possible motives for the shooting rampage.
The shooting had no known connection to terrorism, US government security officials said.
Her father told The Mercury News that the family did not know that Nasim owned a gun.
‘Maybe she bought one’ recently, he said.