On Friday (the 24th), the Canadian site Tumbler Ridgelines published an open letter of apology signed by OpenAI’s founder and CEO Sam Altman, regarding a mass shooting that took place in the city in February.
The letter, dated April 23, is addressed to the Tumbler Ridge community in Canada, where 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed eight people and then took her own life on February 10. Van Rootselaar was a ChatGPT user, and her first account was suspended in June 2025 after the platform detected content that appeared to be “an indication of potential real-world violence.”
As a result, she was banned from the platform. The conduct, however, was not reported to authorities. Soon after, the young woman managed to create a second ChatGPT account that was only discovered after the attack.
“When I spoke with the mayor [Darryl] Krakowka and with the premier [David] Eby about this tragedy, they conveyed the anger, sadness, and concern that are being felt across Tumbler Ridge. We agreed that a public apology was necessary, but that it was also important to give time to respect the community during mourning. I share this letter with the understanding that each person experiences grief in their own way and at their own pace,” Altman wrote.
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Altman said he was “deeply sorry” that OpenAI did not alert authorities when the ChatGPT account was banned in June, and he continued: “Although I know words will never be enough, I believe that an apology is necessary to acknowledge the harm and the irreparable loss your community suffered.”
Finally, the executive reaffirmed a commitment to work with all levels of government and seek ways to “ensure that something like this never happens again,” he wrote.
The apology comes days after the Florida Attorney General’s Office announced an investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT following a mass shooting at Florida State University in April 2025.
According to information released by the state attorney James Uthmeier’s office, student Phoenix Ikner exchanged messages with ChatGPT before opening fire on several people on the campus, leaving two dead and six injured. In a statement, Uthmeier said that: “If ChatGPT were a person, it would be facing murder charges.” However, authorities did not disclose details of the messages exchanged between the shooter and ChatGPT.
