YouTube Shootout: Who is Nasim Aghdam? Why did she fire at the headquarters?

Senior law enforcement officers in San Bruno, California, have identified the woman who shot at least three people and herself at the YouTube headquarters as Nasim Najafi Aghdam.

The woman opened fire with a 9 mm handgun at YouTube's headquarters near San Francisco on Tuesday, wounding three people before shooting herself dead.

A 36-year-old man was in critical condition, a 32-year-old woman was in serious condition and a 27-year-old woman was in fair condition, a spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital said.

But what compelled Nasim Aghdam to take such a drastic step?

1) Nasim Aghdam had her own YouTube channel and actively posted video content

Nasim's has posted 96 videos on supposedly one of her YouTube channel's called Nasim Wonder1. She posted in both English and Farsi language and identified herself as a Persian.

2) Aghdam was reportedly “disgruntled” by the changes in the YouTube platform

She wrote on her website, "Be aware! Dictatorship exists in all countries but with different tactics! They only care for personal and short-term profits and do anything to reach their goals even by fooling simple-minded people, hiding the truth, manipulating science and everything, putting public mental and physical health at risk, abusing non-human animals, polluting the environment, destroying family values, promoting materialism and sexual degeneration in the name of freedom and turning people into programmed robots!"

She shared videos where many users complained of a massive dip in traffic, subscriber count loss, and de-monetization of videos.

3) Aghdam was an animal rights activist

According to the Los Angeles Times, in 2009, Aghdam was part of a protest at Camp Pendleton. She joined about two dozen activists who protested the use of pigs in ‘live tissue’ training for Marines and sailors learning how to treat battlefield casualties.

“For me animal rights equals human rights. Just because they can’t talk doesn’t mean we should take advantage of them,” Aghdam told LA Times.

4) Few media outlets have reported domestic violence as the reason for the shootout

CNN reported that the woman may have taken the drastic step as a result of a love triangle wrong. Some of the news outlets reported that the suspect’s intended target was her boyfriend and that the incident was influenced by domestic violence situation.