YouTube shooting responders recognized

Pacifica police Officer Joseph Gomez as well as San Bruno police Dispatcher Erin Beckett, Records/Communications Supervisor Shannon Rohatch and Burlingame dispatchers Melissa Hunkin, Tara Filiere and Christine Granucci were also awarded the medal.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of the way our folks responded to that incident,” Barberini said. “That medal is not something that we hand out liberally.”

Barberini said the June 12 ceremony was the fifth time the medal had been awarded since 2004.

YouTube employee Allison Miller was also honored for actions that may have saved lives.

Burlingame and San Bruno dispatchers answered more than 200 hundred emergency calls during the first 30 minutes of the April 3 situation. The two cities have what’s called a virtual dispatch relationship, which allowed Burlingame dispatchers to also immediately field the overwhelming number of 911 calls to the San Bruno Police Department communications center. Barberini said the relationship especially on that day “could not have been more valuable.”

Hunkin answered a 911 call from a key witness, the first person to have encountered the shooter, and asked pertinent questions, the answers to which became indispensable to the investigation, Barberini said.

Beckett answered the first 911 call at 12:46 p.m. that day, and within one minute, recorded the caller’s report and entered it into the department’s computer system. Beckett was soon joined by Rohatch, and the two calmly handled over 100 emergency calls within the first hour after the shooting, simultaneously calming down callers and gathering information that they relayed to officers.

“Without the work of our dispatchers, our work would not have been as swift or effective,” Barberini said. “If there had been any confusion prior to our arrival that would have set things off on a different course.”

The eight San Bruno police officers arrived within two minutes of the initial 911 call, armed with not only their service weapons, but also information about the shooter’s appearance and precise location. They also knew where to find the building’s exit and entry points because of the training they had done on site.

“It was a hectic and chaotic scene and based on the info we were getting, officers had every reason to believe there were multiple shooters,” Barberini said.

Officers proceeded to search the building for additional shooters while helping evacuate hundreds of employees.

“When you’re looking for shooters and victims are coming from behind desks and closets, etc. — that took an incredible amount of discipline,” Barberini said. “They responded without hesitation, knowing they were putting themselves in harm’s way. It was a potential life and death situation and they were running toward it with the sole purpose of trying to save lives.”

Upon arrival, San Bruno officers also noticed a victim suffering from a gunshot wound near the building’s front entrance. As they entered the building, Pacifica Officer Joseph Gomez, also among the first responders, rendered aid to the victim. He is credited for saving that person’s life and was awarded his department’s Life Saving Medal in May.

Before any of the first responders arrived, YouTube employee Miller confronted the suspect, Nasim Aghdam, as she attempted to enter the building. Miller asked her to produce an identification badge, which Aghdam ignored before pulling out a firearm from her handbag. Miller was able to make it to safety.

“[Miller] caused the suspect to act prematurely and panic a little,” Barberini said, adding that she began shooting, it seemed, further away from a concentration of employees than she had planned.

Barberini said that the perpetrator had shot herself before officers arrived at the courtyard where they discovered her body, and that it’s still unclear why she shot herself when she did. There is still a great deal of investigative work to be done, he said.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki spoke at the council meeting.

“I was in the building and can say how incredibly terrifying it was for all of us and I have so much respect for the work that you all do that our employees were all running out and you were all running in,” she said. “The fact that you know how to handle such a difficult situation — I just want to thank you. ... We’re all one community and want to say we appreciate everything you did.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ex. 102

Note to readers: the photo caption for this article has been amended to correctly identify the officers honored.