Silicon Valley was shocked by Tuesday’s workplace shooting at YouTube where four people were wounded and the suspected shooter took her own life.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote a letter to all the employees of Google soon after the incident, calling it an “unimaginable tragedy” and a “horrific act of violence.”
Pichai’s peers quickly rallied around him, with leaders of some of the nation’s biggest tech companies expressing sympathy for the victims (and other employees), outrage that it happened, and gratitude to law enforcement officials.
Beyond his internal memo, Pichai offered some public thoughts, as did YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.
There are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred today. @SusanWojcicki & I are focused on supporting our employees & the @YouTube community through this difficult time together. Thank you to the police & first responders for their efforts, and to all for msgs of support.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) April 3, 2018
There are no words to describe how horrible it was to have an active shooter @YouTube today. Our deepest gratitude to law enforcement & first responders for their rapid response. Our hearts go out to all those injured & impacted today. We will come together to heal as a family.
— Susan Wojcicki (@SusanWojcicki) April 4, 2018
From there, tech company CEOs from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi were quick to offer their thoughts.
From everyone at Apple, we send our sympathy and support to the team at YouTube and Google, especially the victims and their families.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) April 3, 2018
We can’t keep being reactive to this, thinking and praying it won’t happen again at our schools, jobs, or our community spots. It’s beyond time to evolve our policies. This is a simple and reasonable approach, and it won’t solve all, but it’s a good start: https://t.co/ADYalbaO57 https://t.co/nbXpH9DDyT
— jack (@jack) April 3, 2018
On behalf of all of Microsoft, our hearts are with everyone at YouTube and Google today and all those affected. https://t.co/dijMxGXGpD
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) April 4, 2018
Horrible and truly tragic day for YouTube and Google. We are wishing all our very best for the injured and all those affected.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 3, 2018
On behalf of the team at @Uber, sending support to everyone @YouTube and @Google, and gratitude to the heroic first responders. Another tragedy that should push us again to #EndGunViolence
— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) April 3, 2018
https://www.facebook.com/sheryl/posts/10160115832185177
Police in San Bruno, Calif. have identified the YouTube shooter as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, a 39-year-old San Diego resident. In a statement, the San Bruno Police Department said it was investigating Aghdam’s motive, noting “at this time there is no evidence that the shooter knew the victims of this shooting or that individuals were specifically targeted.”
