Nasim Aghdam legally purchased a firearm in San Diego two months before she would use it to shoot three people before killing herself at YouTube’s headquarters 500 miles away, it has been revealed.
San Bruno police revealed that Aghdam, 38, had bought the 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun from a gun dealer in her name on January 16, 2018.
Authorities said that one of the magazines Aghdam used was empty and that she had loaded a second to continue shooting at the YouTube employees before taking her own life, according to CBS News.
The gun had a capacity of 10 rounds. It remains unknown if the first magazine was fully loaded and how many shots Aghdam fired in total before killing herself.
San Bruno police commander Geoff Caldwell said the investigation will be ‘long and very methodical’.
That has included following Aghdam’s trek from her home in San Diego to the San Bruno headquarters and what she did in between, including visiting a gun range.
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Nasim Aghdam legally purchased a firearm in San Diego two months before she would use it to shoot three people before killing herself at YouTube’s headquarters 500 miles away, it has been revealed
San Bruno police revealed that Aghdam, 38, had bought the 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun from a gun dealer in her name on January 16, 2018
Authorities said that one of the magazines Aghdam used was empty and that she had loaded a second to continue shooting at the YouTube employees before taking her own life. Pictured is a video of Aghdam parodying Taylor Swift
Aghdam is a self-described Persian animal rights activist and ‘vegan bodybuilder’. She was a prolific YouTuber who had ranted online against the company’s new policies
Early on Tuesday police in Mountain View, a Silicon Valley hub around 30 miles from YouTube’s HQ, found Aghdam sleeping in her car.
They clearly did not consider her a risk despite her father telling them she was angry at YouTube when she left her home days earlier.
The cops who found Aghdam in her car at 1.40am claim she was calm and spoke to them for 20 minutes when they questioned her.
They said she told them she had left home because of family problems and that they did not know, as Aghdam’s family claimed they had told authorities, that she was angry with the company.
Aghdam told police she was in the area to stay with relatives and was looking for work.
After finding her in a strip mall in Mountain View, police removed Aghdam from the missing person’s database and she was free to go on to the Jackson Arms gun range, two miles from YouTube’s campus.
After getting in some practice, she walked into the YouTube campus through the parking garage and opened fire at 12.46pm, injuring three people before turning the gun on herself.
A man who was injured in the shooting has been upgraded from critical to fair condition. Two women who were shot have since been released from the hospital.
Workers at the shooting range claimed not to have seen Aghdam when she visited and refused to speak further.
But Jose Villaluna, who rents warehouse space next door to the gun range, told DailyMail.com that Aghdam had been seen at Jackson Arms.
‘She might have been, yes,’ he said, adding that he had been told by a gun range worker. ‘They say it’s a possibility that she was. I guess they saw her face. That they might have seen her yesterday.’
Aghdam was living with her grandmother in San Diego. On Wednesday, armed police searched through what is believed to be her home.
A neighbor told DailyMail.com that several officers shouted at her to ‘Get inside, stay inside’ as they began searching the first floor apartment.
The neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: ‘There were a lot of police here at 9am today. Some had handguns.
‘They shouted at me to get inside and stay inside. I wanted to look at what was happening but I couldn’t. I did later see them take away bags of evidence from inside. There were a lot of bags. I don’t know what was in them.’
Another neighbor added: ‘It was a big drama. I saw a lot of people outside the apartment and two police cars were blocking off the road.’
After finding her in a strip mall in Mountain View, police removed Aghdam from the missing person’s database and she was free to go on to the Jackson Arms gun range, two miles from YouTube’s campus
Aghdam moved to the US as a teenager in 1996 along with her family from Iran. She is shown as a child (left in an edited photo) with unidentified relatives. In the weeks before the shooting, she complained there was less free speech in America than in the Middle East
Law enforcement officers swoop on an apartment complex in San Diego on Wednesday where Aghdam had been living with her grandmother prior to the rampage
There was no sign of Aghdam’s grandmother at the small home on Wednesday and no officers could be seen guarding the property.
Outside, two pairs of shoes had been left by the door mat and it was possible to see a light left on inside. A teapot was still on a table on the balcony.
Aghdam is not thought to have been living at the property long, with neighbors telling DailyMail.com she was rarely seen.
The neighbor explained: ‘I saw the old lady there very occasionally and we were friends. I did not know her name. She had not been there long.’
‘I never saw Nasim there which I think is off because I at least see the other neighbors even if I don’t know their names.’
‘If she was living there she had not been there long.’
Aghdam, who is from Southern California but is Persian, regularly complained online that YouTube were filtering and demonetizing her various video channels
Aghdam was a prolific YouTuber who had ranted online against the company’s new policies and for ‘censoring her videos and not paying her’
Earlier, the woman’s family in Manifee, California, revealed that they came to the US from Iran in 1996 and that Aghdam had believed there was less free speech in America than in the Middle East.
Until recently, Aghdam had been making a living through monetized commercials and posts on YouTube where she had gathered thousands of followers through multiple English and Farsi channels.
Her father, Ismail Aghdam, told DailyMail.com that Aghdam would lock herself in her bedroom for up to 24 hours a day while creating the 60,000 videos posted on her website and social media channels.
Aghdam had previously founded animal rights charities in California but her vlogging appeared to be the focus of her life.
Her eclectic content ranged from workout videos in tight catsuits to Taylor Swift parodies, animal slaughtering videos and what she described as educational posts about the ‘dangers’ of anal sex.
She became outraged, however, when the video site started ‘censoring’ her content and removing the lucrative ads which had kept her afloat.
‘She was always complaining that YouTube ruined her life,’ Shahran Aghdam told The Press Enterprise in southern California.
Before going to YouTube at lunchtime, she spent some time at Jackson Arms shooting range in San Bruno
The entrance to the gun range where the woman was spotted on Tuesday before carrying out the attack. Jose Villulana, who rents warehouse space next door to the range, said he saw Aghdam there on Tuesday morning before the attack
This is the apartment building where Aghdam was most recently believed to have lived with her grandmother. Police searched it at 9am on Wednesday
A graphic illustrates Nasim’s movements on the day of the shooting from when she was found by police in the early hours until she went to the gun range and on to YouTube HQ
Despite earlier reports and public records which say Aghdam was 39, her brother said Wednesday would have been her 38th birthday.
‘She chose the day to die the day she came,’ he added. She left no suicide note.
The family released a statement on Wednesday expressing their ‘utmost regret’ after the shooting.
‘Our family is in absolute shock and can’t make sense of what has happened. Although no words can describe our deep pain for this tragedy, our family would like to express their utmost regret, sorry for what has happened to innocent victims,’ they wrote.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families. We are praying for speedy recovery of the injured and ask God to bestow patience upon all persons hurt in this horrific senseless act.’
It came as police revealed that Aghdam did not know any of the three people she wounded but was angry over a change in YouTube policies that meant she no longer earned money from her content.
They also revealed that she accessed YouTube’s 200,000 sq ft ‘campus’ through a parking garage but that she parked her own vehicle behind another business nearby.
On Wednesday YouTube announced plans to increase security both as its headquarters and for offices around the world.
Authorities cover a body with a yellow tarp at YouTube’s headquarters in the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday after Aghdamn opened fire before she shot and killed herself. Smashed glass on one of the doors is also shown
Terrified employees were spotted leaving YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, California in a line after Aghdam opened fire on Tuesday afternoon
Staffers returned to work on Wednesday and waited to be escorted into the building by police. One wore a YouTube T-shirt
An injured woman stands outside YouTube’s headquarters, while another employee cries on the phone after escaping the shooting on Tuesday
Vegan bodybuilder, athlete, artist, comedian, poet, model, singer, host, actor, director, producer: The MANY faces of YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam
Vegan bodybuilder, singer, athlete, artist, and director are just some of the words that Nasim Aghdan used to describe herself. But on Tuesday only one phrase was being used to describe the 39-year-old San Diego woman: YouTube shooter.
Aghdam has been identified as the suspect who opened fire outside of the company’s headquarters in San Bruno, injuring three people before killing herself.
In the hours after the shooting Aghdam’s bizarre online presence has unfurled, revealing an obsession with YouTube’s policies and her channel views.
Aghdam had multiple YouTube channels, which featured videos ranging from ab workouts to what she claimed was the ‘first Persian TV commercial and music video regarding animal rights and veganism’.
She also had an Instagram page, which Aghdam said she preferred, that featured numerous graphic images of animals being mistreated.
Aghdam seemed fixated on the belief that her YouTube views were sinking, posting screen grabs that showed her views had dropped by more than half in nine months
Aghdam, who referred to herself as a ‘vegan bodybuilder’, also frequently posted about animal rights and posted with animals on her social media pages
Aghdam even once posted a picture from her pet rabbit’s funeral on her Instagram page
Aghdam once joined a PETA protest at Camp Pendleton to fight the Marines’ use of pigs in military-trauma training (pictured)
Aghdam also had a separate Instagram account, which was sometimes censored because she posted graphic videos of animal abuse
Aghdam seemed fixated on the belief that her YouTube views were sinking, posting screen grabs that showed her views had dropped by more than half in nine months.
One grab from January 15, 2016 shows Aghdam had received 182,776 views while another grab from October 14 that year showed her video had received 94,617 views.
Aghdam, who identified as Persian, posted videos in both English and Farsi and claimed her latter channel was being filtered by ‘close-minded YouTube employees’.
Aghdam founded a non-profit company for animal rights called Peace Thunder in 2011, but it is currently listed as ‘dissolved’ by the California business register
Aghdam posted numerous photos with her pet bunny and appeared to have an Instagram page dedicated solely to her vegan posts
Aghdam did discuss the company in a past interview with Vegan Idea World, saying that veganism was not just a diet but a ‘belief that affects all stages of life’
Aghdam also liked to post photos of herself in bright evening gowns and in various poses
Aghdam also directed herself in music videos, one of which she claimed was the first ‘Persian TV commercial and music video regarding animal rights and veganism’
Aghdam also posted this comparison, seeming to use what appears to be prosthetic breasts
Aghdam shot a man and two women with a handgun when she stormed YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno on Tuesday afternoon
She had been missing for two days and Aghdam’s father warned police that she could be headed for YouTube because she ‘hated’ the company
She claimed one video, which showed her doing ab exercises, was ‘age-restricted’ in an attempt to ‘reduce views and suppress and discourage’ her from making videos.
Aghdam, who referred to herself as a ‘vegan bodybuilder’, also frequently posted about animal rights and even held a funeral for her rabbit.
She also posted videos of animal abuse, including a dog being boiled alive, as well as pictures of herself in evening gowns posing in front of fake painted backgrounds.