San Francisco: Gunfire erupted at YouTube's offices in California Tuesday, leaving at least three people injured and sparking a panicked escape before the suspected shooter -- a woman -- apparently committed suicide.

Amid a chaotic scene in the city of San Bruno, a woman believed to be the shooter was found dead at the scene of the Google-owned video sharing service.

"We have one subject who is deceased inside the building with a self-inflicted wound," San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini told reporters. "At this time, we believe it to be the shooter." Barberini mentioned "four victims" but it was not immediately clear if that included the shooter.

Shootings by women are an extremely rare occurrence in the United States where the overwhelming majority of gun violence is carried out by men.

According to an FBI study that looked at 160 incidents involving one or more shooters in public places between 2000 and 2013 -- just six of the people who opened fire were women, a share of 3.8 percent.