Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old who killed eight people in one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings, had her ChatGPT account banned for “furtherance of violent activities” eight months before the attack—but OpenAI never told police.
The company identified the account in June 2025 through automated abuse detection systems, according to a statement on Friday. About a dozen OpenAI staffers debated whether to alert authorities, with some urging leadership to act after reviewing Van Rootselaar’s conversations “describing scenarios involving gun violence,” the Wall Street Journal first reported.
Leaders decided against it.
OpenAI’s threshold for contacting law enforcement requires “an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm to others.” The company determined Van Rootselaar’s activity did not meet that bar. It banned the account for violating usage policies but took no further action.
‘Proactively’ After the Fact
On February 10, Van Rootselaar shot and killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at their home, then drove to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where she killed five students, a teaching assistant, and then herself. Twenty-seven others were injured.
After the attack, OpenAI reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information about Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT use.
“We proactively reached out to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with information on the individual and their use of ChatGPT, and we’ll continue to support their investigation,” an OpenAI spokesperson said.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark confirmed the company contacted police after the shootings. He said investigators are conducting a “thorough review of the content on electronic devices, as well as social media and online activities” of the suspect.
The Internal Debate
According to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, the decision not to alert authorities was not unanimous. About a dozen employees discussed the concerning nature of Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT interactions, with some pushing leadership to warn police.
The company’s policy aims to balance safety against what it calls “over-enforcement”—situations where “police show up unannounced at their door” could cause unintended harm.
OpenAI said it trains ChatGPT to “discourage imminent real-world harm when it identifies a dangerous situation” and to refuse assistance for illegal activities. It added that it is “constantly reviewing its referral criteria with experts” and examining this case for potential improvements.
A Pattern of Digital Warnings
Van Rootselaar’s troubling online presence extended beyond ChatGPT. YouTube confirmed it identified and removed a channel associated with the suspect following the shooting. Roblox also deleted an account, stating it removed “any content associated with the suspect” on February 11—the day after the attack.
The social gaming platform said the account was removed “as well as any content created by the user”.
In all three cases—ChatGPT, YouTube, and Roblox—the platforms acted after the shooting, not before.
The Victims
The attack claimed the lives of:
· Van Rootselaar’s mother, Jennifer Strang, 39
· Her 11-year-old stepbrother
· Five students at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, ages 12 and 13
· A 39-year-old teaching assistant
Twenty-seven others were injured. Two victims remain hospitalized, including 12-year-old Maya Gebala, who was shot in the head. Her father reported this week that she continues to “defy every expectation,” moving and breathing on her own.
Abel Mwansa, father of 12-year-old Abel Mwansa Jr., is making arrangements to repatriate his son’s remains to Zambia for burial.
The Questions That Remain
Van Rootselaar had a history of mental health contacts with the police. She was born a biological male but identified as a woman. The motive for the attack remains unknown.
But the central question haunting this tragedy is one OpenAI must answer: When a company’s own employees identify a user discussing gun violence and urge leaders to alert authorities, what threshold is high enough to act?
For the families burying children in Tumbler Ridge, “imminent and credible” are words that will never bring back what they lost.
