April 24, 2026 / 11:16 PM EDT / CBS News
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman issued an apology to the Canadian community affected by the Feb. 10 mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, saying the company should have notified law enforcement about a ChatGPT account linked to the shooter. The letter, shared on social media by British Columbia Premier David Eby, said Altman has been thinking of the community often and expressed deep remorse for the harm they have suffered.
Eight people were killed in the attack. Authorities say 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, killing six people there, and that his mother and 11-year-old brother were fatally shot at a nearby residence. Officials said Van Rootselaar died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Altman said the ChatGPT account believed to be associated with Van Rootselaar had been banned in June 2025, about eight months before the shooting, and apologized that OpenAI did not alert police when the account was banned. Earlier this year OpenAI told CBS News the account had been flagged the previous year by automated abuse-detection tools and by human reviewers for potential violent misuse and was removed for violating usage policies. At that time, the company said it determined the case did not meet its threshold for referral because it did not appear to pose an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm.
After the shooting, OpenAI said it proactively provided information to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and would continue to support the investigation. The company describes ChatGPT as trained to discourage real-world harm and says it flags users who indicate plans to harm others for human review; those reviewers assess whether a case poses an imminent threat and should be reported to law enforcement.
In his letter Altman said OpenAI will concentrate on preventative measures to help reduce the risk of similar tragedies and offered his deepest condolences to the affected community.
Separately, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a criminal investigation into OpenAI after reviewing messages between ChatGPT and a Florida State University student accused in an April 2025 campus shooting that killed two people and wounded others. The attorney general said ChatGPT provided what he called “significant advice” to the alleged shooter and has issued subpoenas seeking OpenAI’s protocols for reporting suspected crimes and handling user threats. OpenAI said it identified a ChatGPT account it believed was associated with the Florida suspect and shared that information with law enforcement after learning of the incident.