Company had suspended account of Tumbler Ridge shooter in June 2025 over ‘furtherance of violent activities’
Canada’s artificial intelligence minister says he has summoned representatives from the technology company OpenAI after the company declined to alert police after suspending the account of a user who became the perpetrator of one of the country’s worst-ever school shootings.
Evan Solomon says he is “deeply disturbed” by reports that the company, which operates the popular ChatGPT chatbot, suspended the account of Jesse Van Rootselaar over the “furtherance of violent activities” in June 2025 but did not reach out to Canadian law enforcement.
Company behind ChatGPT last year flagged Jesse Van Rootselaar’s account for ‘furtherance of violent activities’
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has said it considered alerting Canadian police last year 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”.
Tragedy has prompted a wave of support for town from neighbouring communities and across country
When Jim Caruso heard the news of the school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, he knew immediately he needed to be there. He packed his bags and boarded a plane for the community 700 miles away. “I wanted to be here to bring some level of comfort,” he said. “I wanted to hug people, pray for them and, most importantly, to cry with them.”
On Tuesday, a shooter opened fire in the town’s secondary school, killing eight people, most of them young children. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Canada’s history and has left the country reeling.
The Canadian prime minister told residents of Tumbler Ridge that the country is ‘with you’
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has told residents of Tumbler Ridge that the country is “with you, and we will always be with you”, during a candlelight vigil for the eight victims of a mass shooting that has shattered the small mining town.
The prime minister, holding hands with opposition leader Pierre Poilievre while flanked by First Nations chiefs and local officials, paid tribute to the families enduring the loss of loved ones, after the shooting at a local school that has become one of the most deadly attacks in Canadian history.
Roblox says it has removed account after massacre that left nine people including the shooter dead
The 18-year-old suspect in a high school shooting in British Columbia had previously created a mass shooting simulator on the gaming platform Roblox, it has been revealed.
The simulator, set in what appeared to be a virtual shopping mall, allowed users – represented as Roblox-style avatars – to pick up weapons and shoot other players, 404 Media reported on Thursday.
This article was amended on 14 February 2026. An earlier version said there was more than one attacker in the Christchurch attack and incorrectly named the platform the attacker streamed on as Twitch.
Prime minister to meet mourners in mining town as families speak of their loss in one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney is to join mourners in Tumbler Ridge on Friday, as authorities and relatives released details of the six children and assistant teacher killed by a shooter in the remote mining town’s high school.
Carney will attend a vigil in Tumbler Ridge in memory of the victims, and he invited leaders from all political parties to join him in the town, the site of the country’s deadliest mass shooting in years.
A teacher and five students among those killed in attack in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on Tuesday
Canadian police have identified the suspect who carried out a school massacre in remote British Columbia as an 18-year old with a history of mental health problems.
Six people, including a teacher and five students, were killed in the attack on Tuesday in the town of Tumbler Ridge, in the foothills of the Rocky mountains. The suspect’s mother and step-brother were later found dead at the family home, police said. The body of the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, was also found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Nine people have been killed and dozens injured after an assailant opened fire at a school in western Canada, in one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country’s history. The suspect was later found dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury.
Police found six dead inside the high school in the remote town of Tumbler Ridge in British Columbia, with a further two bodies found at a residence believed to be connected to the incident. Another person died on the way to hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.
“We believe we’ve been able to identify the shooter,” said Floyd, adding that RCMP will withhold the shooter’s identity for privacy reasons and for the conduct of the investigation.
Floyd also refused to disclose details on how many of the victims were children and adults, adding that more details will emerge in coming days.
More than two dozen victims have been hospitalised in what the premier, David Eby, called an “unimaginable tragedy” that ranks among the deadliest events of its kind in Canadian history.
Nine people have been killed at Tumbler Ridge secondary school and a nearby residence in a mass shooting in the community of less than 2,500. Police also found the suspect, who appears to had died from a self-inflicted wound.
More than 25 people were injured in the shooting on Tuesday, including two who were airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Six people were found dead inside the school, and one person died on the way to the hospital. Two more people were found dead inside a residence police believe was linked to the shooting. The body of the shooter was also found at the school.
Canadian police first received a report of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge secondary school at about 1.20pm. Police arrived at the scene in north-west Canada in 2 minutes, according to the British Columbia premier, David Eby.
The identities of the shooter and the victims have not yet been disclosed by authorities. Canadian police said “we believe we’ve been able to identify the shooter” but withheld details as the investigation continues.
All remaining students and staff were safely evacuated from the school.
The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, said he was “devastated” by the shooting and said he “stands with all British Columbians as they confront this horrible tragedy”.
Carney has suspended plans to travel on Wednesday to the Munich security conference in Germany in the wake of the shooting.
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