Death at Apple HQ: Male employee found with head wound in conference room

A male Apple Inc employee was discovered in a conference room at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters with a wound to the head and a gun near his body, police said on 27 April. Authorities were called to the Cupertino campus at 8.35am PDT/3.35pm BST, Sergeant Andrea Urena of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office told the media.

"When deputies responded to the campus they found one individual male down and determined he was deceased," Urena said, according to Reuters. "Further investigation determined that no other individuals were involved. We believe this to be an isolated incident and that nobody else on campus or in the public is at risk."

Urena said law enforcement is not searching for any suspects and that the Santa Clara County Coroner's Office would conduct an autopsy on the man to ascertain the cause and manner of death. According to TMZ, the dead employee was reportedly a Hispanic male.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, emergency dispatch audio reported the male was bleeding from the head and "possibly has a gun". The man was reportedly being escorted by security personnel. Minutes later, dispatchers said "a body is in one of the conference rooms with a gun". It is unclear whether the two reports are about the same incident, but both occurred around the time of the emergency call.

Urena did not confirm the dispatch reports saying: "I don't know where those came from. I can't confirm any information regarding a manner or cause of death, or any weapons."

Apple issued an official statement to BuzzFeed News lamenting the employee's death. "We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of a young and talented coworker," Apple spokesperson Kristin Hugue said. "Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends, including the many people he worked with here at Apple. We are working to support them however we can in this difficult time."

An anonymous Apple employee told the Mercury News that most at the office do not know who died and that employees were given the option to take the rest of the day off. Apple also offered grief counselling to employees.