TORONTO (AP) — ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said Friday it considered last year alerting Canadian police about the activities of a person who months later committed one of the worst school shootings in the country’s history.
OpenAI said last June the company identified the account of Jesse Van Rootselaar via abuse detection efforts for “furtherance of violent activities.”
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People hold photos of victims to a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting, in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Residents hug as they place flowers at a memorial for the victims of Tuesday's mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Police tape surrounds a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, after Tuesday's mass shooting. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
The San Francisco tech company said it considered whether to refer the account the Royal Canadian Mounted Police but determined at the time that the account activity did not meet a threshold for referral to law enforcement. OpenAI banned the account in June 2025 for violating its usage policy.
The 18-year-old killed eight people in a remote part of British Columbia last week and died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound.
OpenAI said the threshold for referring a user to law enforcement is whether the case involves an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm to others. The company said it did not identify credible or imminent planning. The Wall Street Journal first reported OpenAI’s revelation.
OpenAI said that, after learning of the school shooting, employees reached out to the RCMP with information on the individual and their use of ChatGPT.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy. 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 in an e-mailed statement Friday that OpenAI contacted police after the shootings.
Clark said a “thorough review of the content on electronic devices, as well as social media and online activities” of Van Rootselaar is taking place. He said “digital and physical evidence is being collected, prioritized, and methodically processed.”
The RCMP said Van Rootselaar first killed her mother and stepbrother at the family home before attacking the nearby school. Van Rootselaar had a history of mental health contacts with police.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear.
The town of 2,700 people in the Canadian Rockies is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Vancouver, near the provincial border with Alberta. Police said the victims included a 39-year-old teaching assistant and five students, ages 12 to 13.
The attack was Canada’s deadliest rampage since 2020, when a gunman in Nova Scotia killed 13 people and set fires that left another nine dead.
People hold photos of victims to a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting, in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
Residents hug as they place flowers at a memorial for the victims of Tuesday's mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Police tape surrounds a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, after Tuesday's mass shooting. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
TRUCKEE, Calif. (AP) — Officials worked to lower the risks of more deadly slides Friday by setting off controlled explosions in the area where an avalanche struck in California’s Sierra Nevada so crews could safely recover the bodies of the people killed.
Rescue crews loaded up a snow vehicle with skis and other supplies and headed toward the area near Castle Peak, northwest of Lake Tahoe, while helicopters circled overhead. Avalanche mitigation work is designed to intentionally release unstable snowpack to reduce the risk when rescue crews go in.
Brutal weather and the threat of more avalanches have kept crews from safely recovering the bodies of the eight people killed and another still missing from Tuesday’s avalanche, which was roughly the size of a football field.
Authorities are investigating the avalanche, including whether criminal negligence played a role in the tragedy, a sheriff’s office leading one of several investigations said Friday.
Why the tour company that organized the backcountry ski trip didn't cancel in the face of a powerful storm and what their guides knew as the weather worsened are the questions being considered.
Both the Nevada County Sheriff’s office and a state agency that regulates workplace safety have opened investigations. Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson with the sheriff's office, declined on Friday to share more information, saying it is an open investigation.
Six of the people who died were part of a close-knit group of friends who were experienced backcountry skiers and knew how to navigate the alpine wilderness, their families said. The three others who are dead or presumed dead were guides.
“We are devastated beyond words,” the families said in a statement released Thursday through a spokesperson. The women were mothers, wives and friends who “connected through the love of the outdoors,” they said, and were carrying avalanche safety equipment and prepared for backcountry travel.
The six were identified as Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt, and they lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Idaho and in the Lake Tahoe area. The families asked for privacy while they grieve.
Just north of San Francisco, where Keatley lived with her family in the city of Larkspur, resident Rob Bramble was shocked to learn that the friendly woman he would say hello to in passing was among the victims.
“She was just a great mom. I’d always see her with the kids, picking them up, just seemed like a great mom and a great family,” said Bramble, whose daughter babysat for the family a few times.
Keatley and her husband owned a wine business and often shared their namesake wines at community events, Larkspur Mayor Stephanie Andre said.
“She was warm, kind and exuded a special quality that drew people to her,” Andre said in a statement.
Morse also lived with her husband and three children north of San Francisco, and worked in the biotech industry, according to her LinkedIn profile. Vitt previously worked at SiriusXM and Pandora, according to her online profile, and lived north of the city with her two sons and husband.
Atkin was a former corporate executive who lived in Lake Tahoe with her husband and two children, according to her leadership coaching website. She's a talented student who could “run like the wind” and made it to state finals for hurdling two years in a row, recalled Jerome Bearden, her high school hurdling coach. She later had a track and field scholarship to Harvard.
“Everybody liked Carrie,” said Bearden, who heard about her death from a former student on Friday. “She was a good person.”
Sekar and Clabaugh were sisters, their brother, McAlister Clabaugh, told The New York Times. Sekar was a mother of two who lived in San Francisco.
Liz Clabaugh was a nurse who oversaw a new graduate nursing residency program at St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho. She was also a mom and ran a Facebook page featuring encouragement and advice for new nurses. Photos showed that her family were frequent adventurers outdoors.
Clabaugh also had served as a health volunteer in Zambia with the Peace Corps, according to a Facebook page for Peace Corps alumni.
The names of the other victims have not been released.
The 15 skiers began their three-day trip Sunday, just as warnings about the storm were intensifying. By early Tuesday, officials cautioned that avalanches were expected.
Avalanche safety experts say it is not uncommon for backcountry skiers to go out when there is an avalanche watch or even a warning.
Blackbird Mountain Guides, which was leading the expedition, said the guides who were on the trek were trained or certified in backcountry skiing and were instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.
“We don’t have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do,” founder Zeb Blais said in a statement. “In the meantime, please keep those impacted in your hearts.”
The slide was the deadliest in the U.S. since 1981, when 11 climbers were killed on Mount Rainier in Washington state.
Watson reported from San Diego and Har from Marin County, California. from Lark. Associated Press writers Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Jessica Hill in Las Vegas; and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed.
The Castle Peak area is shown in an aerial view on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Motorists make their way along interstate 80 after a snow storm Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Snow covers the roof of the Nevada County Sheriff's office on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Truckee, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Snow covers a hillside on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Truckee, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
A skier moves along the Castle Peak trail Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
The Castle Peak area is shown in an aerial view on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Castle Peak is shown in an aerial view on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Sheryl Longman, neighbor of Tahoe avalanche victim Kate Vitt, holds a holiday card she received from Vitt at her home, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Greenbrae, Calif. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Adrián Narayan digs his car out of the snow Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Snow comes down on a dog as traffic is backed up and motorists exit their vehicles along interstate 80 during a storm Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
A California Highway Patrol vehicle is parked along a road during a snow storm Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Placer County, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Snow is plowed in front of businesses during a snow storm Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
