A 25-year-old Apple employee killed himself at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., police said Friday.
Following reports of a dead body on Wednesday, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office released a statement explaining that a medical examiner determined the manner of death was suicide and the cause was a gunshot to the head.
Late Thursday, the Santa Clara County coroner’s office identified the employee as Edward Mackowiak, according to Reuters. A LinkedIn page, which has since been deleted, listed Mackowiak as a software engineer at Apple.
Apple didn’t respond to TheWrap’s message seeking comment, but spokeswoman Kristin Huguet told CNET the company was “heartbroken by the tragic loss of a young and talented coworker.”
“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,” Huguet said.
A call about a “possible suicide” came into the dispatch line at the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office Wednesday morning, TMZ reported earlier this week, and a local NBC station confirmed deputies were on the scene investigating a body.
The news of the suicide Friday caps a week of challenging occurrences for Apple. The gadget giant delayed its earnings report — originally slated for Monday — by one day so employees could attend a memorial service for Bill Campbell, a longtime board member. He died last week.
Then Tuesday, Apple reported its first quarterly sales decline in 13 years as cooling demand for its iPhone signaled an end to the company’s blistering growth. Thursday, billionaire investor Carl Icahn sold off his stake in Apple, saying China’s attitude toward the company troubled him. Icahn previously owned less than one percent in the company, but he’s a widely followed investor.