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Canada · Law Enforcement · OpenAI · School Shooting
OpenAI stated that it considered alerting Canadian police about the activities of Jesse Van Rootselaar in June of the previous year, months before he committed a significant school shooting in British Columbia.
The company identified his account through abuse detection efforts for "furtherance of violent activities." However, OpenAI determined that the account's activity did not meet the threshold for referral to law enforcement, which requires an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm. The account was banned in June 2025 for violating usage policies.
Following the shooting, in which Van Rootselaar killed eight people before dying by suicide, OpenAI employees did reach out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) with information about the individual and their use of ChatGPT. The RCMP confirmed they were contacted by OpenAI after the shootings and are conducting a thorough review of digital and physical evidence.
The article also notes the attack was Canada's deadliest rampage since 2020.
OpenAI's Pre-Shooting Silence on Violent User Sparks Investor Liability Concerns(current)