OpenAI says Tumbler Ridge shooter evaded ban with second ChatGPT account

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This article was published 26/02/2026 (237 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA – Artificial intelligence firm OpenAI says the shooter involved in mass killings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., got around a ban on her problematic use of ChatGPT by having a second account.

The revelation came as the firm outlined in a letter to Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon a series of “immediate steps” it was taking in response to the killings, and that if these had been in place at the time, police would have been informed of the activity on the account.

Ann O’Leary, OpenAI’s vice-president for global policy, said the company only discovered the second account after Jesse Van Rootselaar’s name was announced by RCMP.

She said the shooter who killed eight people and then herself on Feb. 10 somehow evaded systems to prevent banned users from creating new accounts, and Van Rootselaar’s second account was shared with law enforcement upon its discovery.

The letter said OpenAI commits to strengthening its detection systems to better prevent attempts to evade its safeguards and “prioritize identifying the highest-risk offenders.”

The shooter’s other ChatGPT account was shut down in June 2025, the letter said, after a violation of its usage policy. The letter said OpenAI’s automated system detected the account, and it was then sent to human review to determine whether its policies were violated and whether the account warranted referral to law enforcement.

“Based on what we could see at that time the account was banned in June 2025, we did not identify credible and imminent planning that met our threshold to refer the matter to law enforcement,” O’Leary said.

Speaking to reporters in Victoria on Thursday, British Columbia Premier David Eby said Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, had agreed to meet with him.

“I think it’s important that Mr. Altman hear about how his team’s decision not to bring this information forward has resulted in the devastation that I witnessed first-hand in Tumbler Ridge,” said Eby, who did not share details of who would be at the meeting or when it would take place. 

Van Rootselaar, 18, shot dead her mother and 11-year-old half-brother at their home, before killing a teacher’s aide and five pupils aged 12 and 13 at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

In the days after the attack, details of Van Rootselaar’s internet activity began to emerge, including that she had created an online game simulating a shooting massacre in a shopping mall, and that she had been banned from ChatGPT last year.

The Wall Street Journal reported that troubling posts on her ChatGPT account included some that cited scenarios of gun violence, and while staff were alarmed by the posts, the firm decided not to contact police.

In her letter, O’Leary said the firm would strengthen protocols about contacting police “when conversations cross the line into an imminent and credible risk.” 

“With the benefit of our continued learnings, under our enhanced law enforcement referral protocol, we would refer the account banned in June 2025 to law enforcement if it were discovered today,” she said. 

O’Leary said OpenAI would develop a direct point of contact with Canadian law enforcement.

Eby also said his government was told by OpenAI that changes to the thresholds for its protocols would have resulted in police being informed about Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT activity, had they been in place before the killings.

But this was “cold comfort” for the families of Tumbler Ridge, he said. 

Eby said AI companies can’t be trusted to set their own reporting thresholds and that there’s a need for a national standard with a minimum threshold of reporting.

“We need all companies operating on the same threshold across the country, and that will be our message to the federal government,” he said, noting that his attorney general has sent a letter to the federal government to offer B.C.’s assistance in crafting online harms legislation, including a national standard for AI.

The premier also said police have the shooter’s ChatGPT transcripts and suggested that information will eventually become available to the public through some sort of public inquiry process.

Eby said the aim is to make sure a similar situation never happens again.

O’Leary said in her letter that the events in Tumbler Ridge “are an unspeakable tragedy, and our hearts remain with the victims, their families, and the entire community.”

She thanked Solomon for convening a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.

“In our meeting, you and the other ministers stressed that no community should have to face this tragedy,” O’Leary said. “We agree.”

Solomon had called OpenAI representatives to Ottawa to explain its safety procedures and decision-making processes. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, Justice Minister Sean Fraser and Culture Minister Marc Miller also attended.

Solomon said in a statement late Tuesday that federal officials expressed their “disappointment” to the company about its decision not to warn law enforcement.

Government officials had expected the company to come to the table with “concrete solutions” so Canadians could feel comfortable that this kind of tragedy would not recur, Solomon said Wednesday.

He added that “all options are on the table” as the government develops a “suite of measures” to address online harms and other digital policy issues.

Sofia Ouslis, a spokesperson for Solomon, told The Canadian Press on Thursday that “we are reviewing OpenAI’s letter carefully and will have more to say in the coming days.”

O’Leary said in her letter that the company remains committed to co-operating with the investigation into the Tumbler Ridge tragedy.

She also said OpenAI is committed to an ongoing partnership with federal and provincial governments.

“OpenAI works continuously to identify potential warning signals of serious violence, while also protecting the privacy and security of the vast majority of people who use our tools responsibly,” she said. “We seek to identify and take action to address critical harm risks on our platform, which include threats to human life.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2026.