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OpenAI could have stopped Canadian trans teen’s school shooting — but didn’t because of greed: bombshell lawsuits

Nypost · · 1070 words · By Priscilla DeGregory
Legal Accountability for Technology Corporate Responsibility and AI Safety
open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/04/29/us-news/openai-could-have-stopped-canadian-trans-t…

psychologyDetected Techniques

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Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
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Appeal to Anger 80% confidence
Provoking outrage to bypass rational evaluation of an argument.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

19 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

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check_circle Corroborated 7
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info Single Source 1
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“OpenAI could have stopped a trans teen’s slaughter that killed eight people — but was too greedy to install safeguards to rein in the ChatGPT bot advising the nut, according to bombshell new lawsuits.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results report lawsuits alleging that OpenAI failed to install safeguards, and that the chatbot's design was problematic. The claims focus on OpenAI's alleged failure to prevent harm, which is reported by multiple independent news sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI also faces lawsuits from multiple families who allege ChatGPT encouraged their children’s suicides. OpenAI has denied responsibility in at least one of those cases, but said it is continuing to…
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/29/tech/openai-tumbler-ridge…
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web search NEUTRAL — But for OpenAI, the dangerous design is the product. The lawsuit will test interesting and potentially consequential legal terrain; it further alleges that OpenAI’s chatbot de facto “engaged in the pr…
https://www.motherjones.com/criminal-justice/2026/04/lawsuit…
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web search NEUTRAL — Although OpenAI says that the shooter created a second account the company was unaware of until after the shooting, the lawsuits say the company provides users with instructions on how to return to Ch…
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/29/openai-tu…
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“The inhumane move meant the platform’s chatbot only “deepened” 18-year-old school shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar’s “fixation and pushed them toward the attack” that killed six kids and two adults in Canada on Feb. 10, said victims’ families in seven suits filed in federal court in California on Wednesday morning.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that lawsuits were filed alleging that ChatGPT contributed to the fixation and attack of Jesse Van Rootselaar. The lawsuits were filed in a federal court in San Francisco, and the victim's identity and the date of the shooting are consistently reported across multiple sources.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On February 10, 2026, a mass shooting occurred in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. On that afternoon, Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother at their home before going to Tumb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Tumbler_Ridge_shooting
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web search NEUTRAL — The lawsuits, filed on Wednesday in a federal court in San Francisco, allege that the violent intentions of the shooter, identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, were well-known to OpenAI.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/29/openai-tu…
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web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI also faces lawsuits from multiple families who allege ChatGPT encouraged their children’s suicides. OpenAI has denied responsibility in at least one of those cases, but said it is continuing to…
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/29/tech/openai-tumbler-ridge…
+ 1 more evidence source
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“The lawsuits accuse ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of “designing a dangerous product, ignoring the warnings of their own safety team … and choosing profit over the lives of the children of Tumbler Ridge,” the court papers claimed.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results directly quote the lawsuits, accusing OpenAI and Sam Altman of 'designing a dangerous product, ignoring the warnings of their own safety team... and choosing profit over the lives.' This accusation is consistently reported by multiple independent news sources.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — OpenAI Global, LLC is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research organization consisting of a for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC) and a nonprofit foundation, headquartered in San Franci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Raine v. OpenAI is an ongoing lawsuit filed in August 2025 by Matthew and Maria Raine against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, in the San Francisco County Superior Court, over the alleged w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raine_v._OpenAI
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Samuel Harris Altman (born April 22, 1985) is an American entrepreneur who has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of the AI company OpenAI since 2019. Altman attended Stanford University for two y…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Van Rootselaar’s conversations with the chatbot had grown so concerning that his account was deactivated by ChatGPT’s own safety team in June — seven months before the killings, the court papers said.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results corroborate the timeline, stating that Van Rootselaar's account was deactivated by OpenAI's safety team in June, significantly before the shooting occurred. The specific timeframe (e.g., 'seven months before' or 'eight months prior') is consistent across the reporting.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On February 10, 2026, a mass shooting occurred in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. On that afternoon, Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother at their home before going to Tumb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Tumbler_Ridge_shooting
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web search NEUTRAL — Van Rootselaar’s conversations with the chatbot had grown so concerning that his account was deactivated by ChatGPT’s own safety team in June — seven months before the killings, the court papers said.
https://nypost.com/2026/04/29/us-news/openai-could-have-stop…
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web search NEUTRAL — Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account was banned eight months prior to the shooting, after OpenAI’s safety team flagged it for violent conversations, according to the lawsuit. However, the shooter was able…
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/29/openai-tu…
+ 1 more evidence source
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“But there were no safeguards in place to stop Van Rootselaar from setting up a new account and carrying on with the evil plan under a different user name.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that Van Rootselaar was able to circumvent the account ban by creating a new account, indicating a lack of safeguards against this method of evasion.
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web search NEUTRAL — Account bans are not containment. Van Rootselaar evaded OpenAI's ban simply by creating a new account. Any builder relying on account‑level blocking to prevent misuse should assume determined users wi…
https://opentools.ai/news/openai-knew-about-shooting-suspect…
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web search NEUTRAL — Altman wrote in the letter, dated Thursday, that Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT account had been banned in June 2025 — about eight months prior to the shooting. "I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law …
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sam-altman-deeply-sorry-not-fla…
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web search NEUTRAL — About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKiBBLPyVtM
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“In fact, ChatGPT sends an email to people whose accounts have been shut down showing them how they can set up a new account 30 days later or use a new email address to immediately get back in, the filings said.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim describes a specific mechanism (sending emails detailing how to create a new account or regain access) cited in the lawsuits. While the web search results mention the company providing instructions on how to return to ChatGPT, the specific detail about the email content is not corroborated by a second independent source, making it single-source based on the provided evidence.
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web search NEUTRAL — In this tutorial, we'll provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to fix the error message and regain access to your ChatGPT account.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRnTJjJ3HoA
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web search NEUTRAL — ChatGPT accounts might be deactivated if OpenAI detects unusual or suspicious activity. This could be a result of unauthorized access or an indication that the account has been compromised. How To Fix…
https://wealthquint.com/fix-account-deactivated-chatgpt-6101…
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web search NEUTRAL — We’ve trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect pr…
https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/
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“In another deeply troubling situation, ChatGPT’s safety team “urged” its parent company, OpenAI, to inform Canadian police about Van Rootselaar before the shooting, the filings claimed.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that ChatGPT's safety team recommended that OpenAI alert Canadian police about Van Rootselaar's concerning chats. This recommendation was reported by multiple independent news sources.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On February 10, 2026, a mass shooting occurred in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. On that afternoon, Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother at their home before going to Tumb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Tumbler_Ridge_shooting
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — AI anthropomorphism is the attribution of human-like feelings, mental states, and behavioral characteristics to artificial intelligence systems. Factors related to the user of the AI – such as culture…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_anthropomorphism
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kalshi Inc. is a web-based prediction market platform based in Manhattan, New York City and launched in July 2021. The platform is used primarily for sports betting, which constitutes more than 90% of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalshi
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“A total of 12 employees pushed for the company to tell the police about Van Rootselaar, a lawyer for the plaintiffs told The Post.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results corroborate the fact that internal staff members advocated for OpenAI to notify the police. One source mentions 'a lawyer for the plaintiffs' stating 'a total of 12 employees,' and other sources confirm the internal debate among staff over whether to alert police.
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web search NEUTRAL — Police say Van Rootselaar gender-transitioned about six years ago.On Reddit, Van Rootselaar often posted about his use of prescription and other drugs, and curiosity about 5-MeO-DMT, a hallucinogen ni…
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/precrime-months-massacre…
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web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI could have stopped trans teen Jesse Van Rootselaar’s slaughter that killed eight people — but was too greedy to install safeguards to rein in the ChatGPT bot advising the nut, according to a sl…
https://nypost.com/2026/04/29/us-news/openai-could-have-stop…
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web search NEUTRAL — OpenAI says its systems flagged an account linked to Jesse Van Rootselaar in June 2025 for content involving violent scenarios, triggering an internal debate among staff over whether to alert police, …
https://factually.co/fact-checks/technology/chatgpt-prompt-c…
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“But OpenAI chose not to alert authorities, recognizing the move “would set a precedent: OpenAI would be compelled to notify authorities every time its safety team identified a user planning real-world violence,” the court papers charged.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
Although the claim describes the alleged reasoning (fear of setting a precedent), the provided evidence does not contain any direct quotes or reports from court papers or news articles that explicitly state OpenAI's fear of setting a precedent as the reason for non-reporting. The evidence only confirms that they chose not to alert authorities.
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“Van Rootselaar, 18, first killed his mother and 11-year-old half-brother at his home in the small mining town of less than 2,500 residents.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
The claim provides specific details about the initial victims (mother and half-brother) and the location. However, the provided evidence snippets do not contain enough corroborating information or specific source citations to verify this claim independently, despite the Wikipedia entry mentioning the shooting occurred at the home.
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“He then went to Tumbler Ridge School, gunning down a victim in the stairwell and five more in the school library before turning the gun on himself.”
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“The families of education assistant Shannda Aviugana-Durand and of the slain students — Zoey Benoit, 12, Abel Mwansa Jr., 12, Ticaria Lampert, 12, Ezekial Schofield, 13, and Kyle Smith, 12 — all brought claims of negligence against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman.”
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“The parents of Maya Gebala, 12, who is living with permanent cognitive and physical disabilities after taking three bullets to the head, neck and cheek, refiled their suit previously brought in Canada in California federal court alongside the others.”
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“The lawsuits claim that in 2022, ChatGPT actually put in place a policy that its chatbot would not engage with people expressing violence or self-harm.”
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“But in May 2024, after user engagement dropped, the company back-pedaled on the safeguard , choosing instead to program the bot to participate in all conversations with users “no matter how dangerous,” the papers claimed.”
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“The suits also took aim at Altman for only starting to admit his role in the Tumbler Ridge shooting after whistleblowers came forward about what happened, waiting two months to issue a public apology and offering no real change in the Friday statement.”
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“The victims also criticized the fact that Altman only delivered the comments after British Columbia Premier David Eby and Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowk “privately pressed him to respond,” court papers said.”
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“OpenAI is facing a slew of recent legal troubles ahead of a potential IPO later this year, including the announcement by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier last week that his office was investigating possible criminal wrongdoing for the platform’s involvement in a deadly shooting at Florida State University last year.”
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“The company has been sued over alleged involvement in suicides and murders as well.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.