YouTube Shooter Potentially Had Grudge Against Video-Sharing Site
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By Faith Karimi and Joe Sutton, CNN
(CNN) -- The woman who opened fire at YouTube headquarters in Northern California may have been a disgruntled user of the video-sharing site.
Police identified the woman in Tuesday's shooting as San Diego resident Nasim Najafi Aghdam, who was in her late 30s.
Aghdam wounded three people at the campus in San Bruno, south of San Francisco, then turned the gun on herself, authorities said. A fourth person suffered an ankle injury while escaping the gunfire.
Authorities don't know of a motive for the shooting, but they are investigating a website that appears to show the same woman accusing YouTube of restricting her videos, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Longtime Social Media User
The website points to a prolific, longtime social media user. It lists four YouTube channels for the woman -- one in Farsi, one in Turkish, one in English and one devoted to hand art. It also lists an Instagram page that focuses on vegan life.
CNN is working to verify the authenticity of the website. YouTube's parent company, Google, referred CNN to an earlier statement about the shooting when contacted about the website.
The woman's grievances against YouTube appear to be centered around censorship and revenue.
"There is no equal growth opportunity on YOUTUBE or any other video sharing site, your channel will grow if they want to!!!!!" one post reads. "Youtube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views!"
Another post accuses "close-minded" YouTube employees of putting an age restriction on videos, saying it's aimed at reducing views and discouraging the woman from making new videos.
Vegan Bodybuilder
On a YouTube channel, the same woman described herself as a vegan bodybuilder and an animal rights activist. By Tuesday night, the account had been terminated, with a YouTube message citing "multiple or severe violations" of its policy.
The postings are not limited to YouTube. Videos on several social media platforms include posts on animal rights, vegan lifestyle and the political system in Iran. Others include a bizarre mix of musical parodies.
As questions remain on the motive, police have said there's no evidence the shooter knew the victims or that they were specifically targeted.
The YouTube shooter joins a rare list of female attackers. The FBI examined active shooter incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2016, and found that only nine of the 220 incidents involved female shooters.
YouTube was founded in February 2005 and quickly became a major site for online videos. It was later purchased by Google.
More than 1,100 people work at the YouTube office in San Bruno, about 10 miles from San Francisco.
The-CNN-Wire
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