ChatGPT-maker OpenAI intended to alert Canadian police about school shooting suspect months ago

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said on Friday that it considered alerting Canadian police last year to the activities of the perpetrator of the worst school shooting in the country’s history, months after the shooting.

OpenAI said the Jesse van Ruetselaar account was identified by the company’s abuse detection efforts for “violent activity” last June.

The San Francisco tech company said it was considering whether to refer the account to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but at the time determined the account’s activity did not meet the threshold for a referral to law enforcement. OpenAI banned the account in June 2025 for violating its usage policy.

An 18-year-old man killed eight people in a remote area of ​​British Columbia last week and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

OpenAI said the threshold case for referring a user to law enforcement is whether there is an imminent and credible risk of serious bodily harm to others. The company said it has not identified any credible or imminent plans. The Wall Street Journal first reported OpenAI’s revelations.

Employees who learned of the school shooting reached out to the RCMP with information about the person and their use of ChatGPT, OpenAI said.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy. We have first contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information on their use of ChatGPT and we will support their investigation,” said an OpenAI spokesperson.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Clarke confirmed in an e-mailed statement Friday that OpenAI contacted police after the shooting.

Clark said a “comprehensive review of content on electronic devices, as well as social media and online activities” is underway. “Digital and physical evidence is being collected, prioritized and processed methodically,” he said.

Van Rutzelaar killed his mother and half-brother at the family home before attacking a nearby school, RCMP said. Van Ruetselaar has a history of mental health contacts with police.

The motive for the shooting remains unclear.

The town of 2,700 people is located in the Canadian Rockies about 1,000 kilometers (600 mi) northeast of Vancouver, near the provincial border with Alberta. A 39-year-old teaching assistant and five students aged between 12 and 13 were among the victims, police said.

The attack is Canada’s deadliest since 2020, when a gunman killed 13 people and shot nine others in Nova Scotia.