Police responded to an active shooter situation at YouTube's headquarters in San Bruno, California, on Tuesday. Within minutes of the initial reports, before any official information emerged, hoaxes and fake news started being shared on social media.
At least three people were injured and police later identified the suspect as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, 39, who died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
So far, very little is known about Aghdam. On her personal website and social media accounts, she frequently posted about animals rights and veganism, and alleged that Google and YouTube were discriminating against her.
Authorities did not speculate about a possible motive, but that didn't stop the internet from unleashing a flurry of fake news.
Here's a look at what hit online:
1. Many Twitter accounts started sharing photos of Sam Hyde, falsely accusing him of being the shooter. Hyde is a comedian who is blamed by online trolls after almost every shooting.
2. This photoshopped image claimed to be security camera footage showing the shooter. But it was just another Sam Hyde hoax.
3. On 4chan, some users encouraged others to "start memeing Sam Hyde" to get the hoax on TV.
4. Another 4Chan user claimed this was a photo of the shooter, but it's actually a YouTube food reviewer whose image has been used in a previous hoax.
5. People also falsely identified other internet personalities as the shooter, including German YouTuber DragonLord.
6. This is Dugan Ashley, another YouTuber falsely identified on Twitter as the shooter.
7. YouTuber Matt Jarbo shared screengrabs of tweets falsely identifying him as the shooter.
Sigh. Here we go. Obviously I'm not the shooter. #youtubeshooting