14 hours ago
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Reuters
Eight people were killed in a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia earlier in February
OpenAI banned a ChatGPT account owned by the suspect of a mass shooting in British Columbia more than half a year before the attack took place.
The AI company said they had identified an account owned by Jesse Van Rootselaar in June 2025 under abuse and enforcement detection, which includes identifying accounts being used to further violence.
OpenAI said it did not alert authorities to the account because its usage did not meet its threshold of a credible or imminent plan for serious physical harm to others.
It said its thoughts were with everyone affected by the tragedy and that following the attack it had "proactively" contacted Canadian police with information on the suspect.
Van Rootselaar is suspected of having shot and killed eight people in rural Tumbler Ridge on 12 February in one of the deadliest attacks in Canada's history.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the story, "about a dozen staffers debated whether to take action on Van Rootselaar's posts."
Some had identified the suspect's usage of the AI tool as an indication of real world violence and encouraged leaders to alert authorities, the US outlet reported.
But, it said, leaders of the company decided not to do so.
In a statement, a spokesperson for OpenAI said: "In June 2025, we proactively identified an account associated with this individual [Jesse Van Rootselaar] via our abuse detection and enforcement efforts, which include automated tools and human investigations to identify misuses of our models in furtherance of violent activities."
They said the company would continue to support the police's investigation.
The BBC has contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for comment.
OpenAI has said it will uphold its policy of alerting authorities only in cases of imminent risk because alerting them too broadly could cause unintended harm.
It has also said that it trains ChatGPT to discourage imminent real-world harm when it identifies a dangerous situation and to refuse to help people that are attempting to use the service for illegal activities.
The company added that it is constantly reviewing its referral criteria with experts and that it is reviewing the case for improvements.
The deadly attack on Tumbler Ridge Secondary School saw a further 27 people injured.
Van Rootselaar was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the school. Police said the suspect was born a biological male but identified as a woman.
Van Rootselaars's mother and step-brother were among the victims of the shooting. Both were found dead at a local residence, police said.
The motive for the attack is not yet known.
