Correction: Police Chief Ed Barberini initially said there were four shooting victims but later clarified that a fourth person suffered an ankle injury. This story has been updated to reflect that change.
A woman opened fire at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno today, setting off a panic among employees and wounding at least four people before fatally shooting herself, police and witnesses said.
Officers and federal agents swarmed the company’s complex at 901 Cherry Ave. after receiving multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire.
Television news footage showed people leaving the building in a line, holding their arms in the air. Officers patted them down to make sure none had weapons.
YouTube employee Vadim Lavrusik posted on Twitter that he heard gunshots and saw people running. He said he was barricaded in a room with co-workers before being safely evacuated.
Will Hudson said a friend who works for YouTube texted him about the shooter.
“I think there might be a shooter in my building,” read one text. “The fire alarm went off so we started to evacuate and then people (started) running saying there was a shooter.”
Officers arrived at the building at 12:48 p.m. and immediately began searching the building. They found one victim with an apparent gunshot wound near the entrance, and two additional victims at a nearby business.
“It was very chaotic, as you can imagine,” San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said.
Around 2:30 p.m., Barberini said police were still searching the scene in a “slow and methodical” way to ensure that no additional suspects remained at large and that all of the victims of the shooting had been
located.
San Francisco General Hospital received three patients: a 36-year-old man in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman in fair condition, a spokesman said.
The hospital expected more patients.
Lisa Kim, a spokeswoman for Stanford Medical Center, said just before 2 p.m. that additional shooting victims were expected at that hospital. No other update from the hospital was available as of shortly
before 3 p.m.
Mountain View-based Google, which owns the world’s biggest online video website, posted on Twitter that the company was coordinating with authorities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it also responded.
The White House said President Trump was briefed on a shooting and that officials were monitoring developments.
Hudson said his friend made it safely back to San Francisco and was in contact with his family. Hudson said he’s become used to hearing about gun violence but has never been so close to it.
“It just feels strange. It feels like it could really be anyone. That’s really the strangeness of it,” he said.
— By the Associated Press and Bay City News
