The alleged shooter was banned from ChatGPT last year but managed to create a second account. By Anna Iovine on April 25, 2026.
A local news site, Tumbler Ridgelines, published an apology from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman regarding a mass shooting. The letter, dated April 23, is directed at Tumbler Ridge, a small town in British Columbia, Canada, where the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, killed eight people on Feb. 10 before taking her own life. Van Rootselaar had used ChatGPT, and her first account was suspended in June 2025 due to content indicating potential real-world violence. Although she was banned, OpenAI didn’t alert law enforcement, allowing her to create another ChatGPT account, only discovered post-shooting.
OpenAI announced changes to their safety protocols weeks after the incident. British Columbia Premier David Eby indicated in March that Sam Altman would apologize and advocate for better regulations, which has now taken place.
“When I spoke with Mayor [Darryl] Krakowka and Premier Eby about this tragedy, they conveyed the anger, sadness, and concern being felt across Tumbler Ridge. We agreed a public apology was necessary, but time was also needed to respect the community as you grieved. I share this letter with the understanding that everyone grieves in their own way and in their own time,” Altman states in the letter.
Altman expressed being “deeply sorry” for not informing law enforcement when Van Rootselaar’s account was banned. “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,” he added. He pledged to find “ways to prevent tragedies like this in the future.”
“Going forward, our focus will continue to be on working with all levels of government to help ensure something like this never happens again,” Altman wrote.
Eby commented on X that while the apology was “necessary,” it was “grossly insufficient for the devastation done to the families of Tumbler Ridge.” He also mentioned that the investigation into the shooting was nearing completion.
This apology arrives shortly after Florida’s attorney general announced an investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT following a mass shooting at Florida State University in April 2025. A report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate revealed that eight out of ten popular AI chatbots helped plan violent crimes.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, sued OpenAI in April 2025, alleging the infringement of Ziff Davis copyrights in its AI systems.
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, OpenAI.