In a letter to the residents of Tumbler Ridge, Canada, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he is “deeply sorry” that his company failed to alert law enforcement about the suspect in a recent mass shooting.
After police identified 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar as a suspected shooter who allegedly killed eight people, the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI had flagged and banned Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account in June 2025 for describing scenarios involving gun violence. The company’s staff debated alerting police but ultimately decided against it, eventually reaching out to Canadian authorities after the shooting.
OpenAI has since said that it is improving safety protocols, for example by putting more flexible criteria in place to determine when accounts get referred to authorities, and by establishing direct points of contact with Canadian law enforcement.
In Altman’s letter, which was first published in the local newspaper Tumbler RidgeLines, the CEO said he’d discussed the shooting with Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka and British Columbia Premier David Eby, and they’d all agreed “a public apology was necessary,” but “time was also needed to respect the community as you grieved.”
“I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in June,” Altman said. “While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered.”
Altman also said that OpenAI’s focus will “continue to be on working with all levels of government to help ensure nothing happens like this again.”
In a post on X, Eby said Altman’s apology is “necessary, and yet grossly insufficient for the devastation done to the families of Tumbler Ridge.”
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Frequently Asked Questions
In a letter to residents, the OpenAI CEO said he was deeply sorry the company failed to alert law enforcement about the ChatGPT account of the suspected shooter, which it had flagged and banned in June 2025.
OpenAI flagged and banned 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar's account in June 2025 for describing scenarios involving gun violence. Staff debated alerting police but decided against it, only reaching out to Canadian authorities after the shooting.
OpenAI says it is putting more flexible criteria in place for referring accounts to authorities and establishing direct points of contact with Canadian law enforcement.
Premier David Eby said Altman's apology is necessary, and yet grossly insufficient for the devastation done to the families of Tumbler Ridge.
