ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has revealed it considered alerting Canadian police last year about the activities of an individual who months later committed one of the worst school shootings in the nation's history. The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company made this disclosure on Friday, stating it had identified the account of Jesse Van Rootselaar in June 2025 through abuse detection systems monitoring for violent activities.
Threshold for Law Enforcement Referral
OpenAI explained that while it considered whether to refer the account to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the company determined at the time that the account activity did not meet its established threshold for law enforcement referral. The company's policy requires cases to involve an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm to others before making such referrals.
"We did not identify credible or imminent planning," an OpenAI spokesperson stated regarding the decision-making process last year. The company subsequently banned Van Rootselaar's account in June 2025 for violating its usage policies, but did not escalate the matter to authorities at that time.
Tragic Events Unfold
The 18-year-old suspect killed eight people in a remote area of British Columbia last week before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to the RCMP, Van Rootselaar first killed her mother and stepbrother at the family home before attacking the nearby school in Tumbler Ridge, a town of approximately 2,700 residents located more than 1,000 kilometers northeast of Vancouver.
Police confirmed the victims included a 39-year-old teaching assistant and five students aged between 12 and 13 years old. The suspect had a history of mental health contacts with police, though the precise motive for the shooting remains unclear to investigators.
Post-Tragedy Cooperation
Following the school shooting, OpenAI employees proactively reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information about the individual and their use of ChatGPT. "Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy," an OpenAI spokesperson said. "We proactively reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information on the individual and their use of ChatGPT, and we'll continue to support their investigation."
Historical Context of Violence
This attack represents Canada's deadliest rampage since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that resulted in nine additional deaths. The revelation about OpenAI's earlier awareness of the suspect's activities was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, raising important questions about technology companies' responsibilities in monitoring and reporting potentially dangerous users.
OpenAI's disclosure highlights the complex ethical and practical challenges facing artificial intelligence companies as they balance user privacy, content moderation policies, and public safety concerns. The company maintains that its current threshold for law enforcement referral requires evidence of imminent and credible threats, a standard it says was not met in this case during its initial review last year.
