OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, said it had identified and blocked the account of the Canadian school shooting suspect months before last week's deadly attack, but determined at the time that the activity did not meet the threshold for reporting to law enforcement.
As per the Associated Press, the San Francisco-based company disclosed in a statement that the 18-year-old's account was detected by its abuse detection systems in June of last year for the "furtherance of violent activities". After examining the behaviour, OpenAI explored reaching out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Although the conclusion is that the case didn't meet its internal law enforcement involvement criteria.
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The company made it clear that it only informs authorities when there is a "credible and imminent risk of serious physical harm to others". They said that during the review, no such urgent or actual threat was found. Later, in June 2025, the account was banned for disobeying OpenAI's usage guidelines. The company's prior knowledge of the account was initially revealed by the Wall Street Journal.
OpenAI reported after the shooting
OpenAI claimed to have actively reported to Canadian police and provided information on the suspect's usage of ChatGPT after the Tumbler Ridge case. According to a representative for OpenAI, the company will continue to assist investigators.
Police are thoroughly examining gadgets, social networking and other Internet documents connected to Van Rootselaar, according to RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark. As part of the continuing investigation, he added, both offline and online evidence are being gathered and properly analysed.
Details of the attack
According to the police, Van Rootselaar attacked a local school after killing her mother and stepbrother at their house. Five children between the ages of 12 and 13 years and a 39-year-old teaching assistant were among the victims.
The suspect passed away from own gunshot wound, according to the authorities. Van Rootselaar had prior interactions with police over mental health, according to officials. The inquiry is still ongoing, and it is yet unknown what the underlying reason for the attack is.
