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OpenAI CEO Apologizes for Unreported ChatGPT Account in School Shooting
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman issued an apology to a Canadian community affected by a February mass shooting, stating regret for not flagging the shooter's banned ChatGPT account to authorities. The account was banned in June 2025 after detection of potential misuse. Separately, Florida's attorney general launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI related to another shooting incident.
Apr 25, 6:45 AM·2m read2 sources
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman apologized to members of a Canadian community for not alerting law enforcement to the ChatGPT account of a shooter involved in a February massacre that killed eight people. ' The letter was shared on Friday on social media by British Columbia Premier David Eby.
10 massacre in Tumbler Ridge in northeast British Columbia. Six people were fatally shot when 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Feb. 10. The shooter's mother and 11-year-old brother were killed at a nearby residence on Feb.
10. Jesse Van Rootselaar died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Feb. 10. Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT account was banned in June 2025, about eight months prior to the shooting. In February, OpenAI told CBS News that Van Rootselaar's account had been flagged last year by automated abuse detection tools and human investigators.
OpenAI said the account was banned for violating its usage policies. OpenAI said the company had weighed whether to flag the account to law enforcement but determined it did not pose an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm to others. ' OpenAI says that ChatGPT is trained to discourage real-world harm and is instructed to refuse to help when it detects an illicit intent.
OpenAI says users that indicate plans to harm others are flagged to human reviewers who determine whether a case poses an imminent threat of physical harm and should be referred to law enforcement. Altman wrote in his letter that OpenAI will remain focused on preventative efforts to help ensure something like this never happens again.
