Suicide At Apple Headquarters, Body Found In Conference Room [Updated]
A body was found in Apple’s Cupertino headquarters today, according to reports the individual had a gun and was killed by a gunshot wound to the head in what police dispatchers called a possible suicide. The deceased is a Hispanic male, an Apple employee, police have confirmed.
According to TMZ, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office dispatched deputies to the scene at Apple’s headquarters, where a female employee was reportedly involved in some kind of argument and somehow suffered a head wound before being escorted from the building. TMZ speculated earlier that the head injury sustained by the woman escorted by Apple security from the Cupertino headquarters may have been a gunshot wound, but it appears as of this reporting that there are no other reports of injured Apple personnel.
Police describe a single body being found in a conference room at Apple’s headquarters. According to reports, the unidentified decedent was in possession of a gun at the time of his death. TMZ reports that a call came out from the Sheriff’s dispatch at 8:38 a.m. as a possible suicide.
Sheriff investigation at #Apple headquarters in Cupertino. A body was found in a conference room. pic.twitter.com/HC7UBPWROM
— Matt Keller (@MattKellerABC7) April 27, 2016
The body found at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, reports NBC News, was discovered this morning. Police and emergency crews were called to the Apple headquarters, but emergency services were waved off and never set foot on the Cupertino campus, suggesting that the individual was beyond medical intervention.
Fox News confirms reports that a body has been found at the Apple headquarters, discovered in a conference room after some kind of altercation. Police have not, however, confirmed the identity of the deceased and have thus far refused to confirm whether or not he was an Apple employee.
The news of a possible suicide on the Apple campus comes just hours after the company suffered a crushing blow to its stock price that sent Apple (AAPL) stock tumbling. According to Wired, Apple suffered a 13 percent drop in its overall revenue yesterday, causing an overall drop in the Apple stock price of around 7 percent — or $40 billion.
According to Quartz, the massive loss Apple suffered yesterday was the result of falling iPhone sales amid a crowded smartphone marketplace. Apple lost around $40 billion in value yesterday, or as Quartz puts it, the entire market value of Netflix.
It’s not much of a financial crisis, investment experts say. Apple is only feeling the effects of a competitive marketplace, and iPhone sales are still incredibly strong. Just last quarter, Apple made about $32 billion in iPhone sales, more than the combined total Microsoft and Google brought in from smartphone sales.
“The global smartphone market is slowing as penetration of smartphones in major mature markets reaches saturation. I don’t think Apple or its investors should be worried,” said Jan Dawson, the president of Jackdaw Research.
The change in Apple’s value is more the result of market forces than any downturn in Apple’s strength as a company or the market conditions for their popular products like the iPhone, which is still tremendously popular and slated to receive an upgrade in September of this year. According to Wired, Apple has enjoyed meteoric sales figures for the iPhone, and it’s only natural that Apple’s sales increase much slower than they have in the past given the sheer amount of competition the iPhone faces today.
Wired speculates that yesterday’s massive downturn in Apple’s profits will become the new normal for the Cupertino company, as steady growth replaces the previous massive spikes in sales and revenue Apple had previously enjoyed.
Update: Police have confirmed that the body found on the Apple campus is that of a Hispanic male, an Apple employee. There are no reports of any other injuries.
[Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Images]
