Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL stock was trading lower by nearly 2 percent early Wednesday morning although it is unclear how much of the decline can be attributed to a shooting at the company's YouTube campus.
What Happened
Three people were shot at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, California on Tuesday with one confirmed fatalitity: a 39-year-old woman identified by San Bruno, California police as Nasim Najafi Aghdam. The shooter was found inside the YouTube building with a gunshot wound that's believed to be self-inflicted, police said.
The victims suffered injuries that are "treatable," said San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini, according to Recode.
Aghdam's father Ismail said in an interview that his daughter was a vegan activist who was angry at YouTube because it stopped paying for her content, according to The Mercury News.
Aghdam was reported missing by her family, her father told the newspaper, and he said he told police his daughter might go to YouTube because she "hated" the company.
The family was contacted by police at 2 a.m. Tuesday, who said Aghdam had been found and the situation was under control, The Mercury News reported.
Why It's Important
Before the shooting occurred, YouTube had been expected to ban videos that promote the sale of firearms, The Mercury News reported — a move that was met with pushback from gun rights groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which called YouTube's policy on gun content "worrisome."
What's Next
With a national demonstration, March For Our Lives, having taken place March 24 in the wake of a Parkland, Florida school shooting, the gun control debate was already at the forefront of the national conversation before Tuesday's shooting at YouTube.
In a statement, Google CEO Sundar Pichai thanked people inside and outside the company for their support after the shooting.
"I know a lot of you are in shock right now. Over the coming days, we will continue to provide support to help everyone in our Google family heal from this unimaginable tragedy," Pichai said.
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YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California. Photo by Coolcaesar/Wikimedia.
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