Apple employee died of self-inflicted gunshot wound: police

The Apple Inc (AAPL.O) employee found dead at the company's California headquarters committed suicide, dying of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, police said on Thursday.

The victim, who was found on Wednesday deceased in a conference room at Apple's campus in Silicon Valley, was identified as 25-year-old Edward Thomas Mackowiak of Santa Clara, California.



"The Medical Examiner determined the manner of death was suicide and the cause was a gunshot to the head," the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said in a written statement.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on Thursday or say what Mackowiak did for the company, but a LinkedIn profile that has since been taken down listed him as a software engineer.

There was no immediate word on what might have led Mackowiack to take his own life.

"We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of a young and talented coworker," the company said in a statement issued late on Wednesday. "Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends, including the many people he worked with here at Apple."



Apple's so-called Infinite Loop campus is the hub for the company's workforce in Cupertino, which numbers 16,000 employees, according to a 2013 report on the company's economic impact. The company is constructing another campus in the city, a massive loop of glass often likened to a spaceship.

Apple on Tuesday reported its first-ever decline in iPhone sales and its first revenue drop in 13 years.