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Sam Altman apologizes to Canadian town where OpenAI failed to alert police about a mass shooter

8 0
28.04.2026

Sam Altman apologizes to Canadian town where OpenAI failed to alert police about a mass shooter

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote a letter publicly apologizing to residents of the Canadian town of Tumbler Ridge after the company failed to alert local authorities about a person who allegedly killed eight people in the town earlier this year. 

On Feb. 10, an 18-year-old suspect, Jesse Van Rootselaar, allegedly killed her mother and stepbrother before killing five students and an educational assistant at a school in Tumbler Ridge, a rural town in the western Canadian province of British Columbia. Van Rootselaar, who was transitioning from male to female, later killed herself at the school, according to authorities. 

In a letter published last week in local newspaper Tumbler RidgeLines, and whose authenticity was confirmed by an OpenAI spokesperson, Altman addressed the town’s residents, saying he was “deeply sorry” the company did not alert authorities to the suspected shooter. 

“While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible........

© Fortune