OpenAI employees raised concerns about posts made by the transgender shooter who attacked a school in Canada months before the deadly rampage unfolded, it has emerged.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, opened fire on students inside the library of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on the afternoon of February 10, police said. 

The shooting ended with the tragic deaths of a female teacher, along with three girls and two boys aged between 13 and 17, while 25 more were injured. Van Rootselaar’s mother and brother were also found dead at their home beforehand. 

Yet, there were warning signs dating back to the summer. Van Rootselaar allegedly described a series of graphic scenarios involving gun violence to ChatGPT for several days in June, sources told the Wall Street Journal. 

The concerning content was flagged by an automated review system and alarmed around a dozen employees at OpenAI, with some believing it indicated potential escalation into real-world violence. 

According to those familiar with the matter, several employees escalated the troubling content to leaders and urged them to alert Canadian law enforcement, the outlet reported. 

However, OpenAI decided against reporting Van Rootselaar to law enforcement. 

A spokesperson for the AI company told the Journal that they banned her account, but decided her comments didn’t meet the requirements for further escalation. 

The company said in a statement to the outlet: ‘Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the Tumbler Ridge tragedy.’

According to the Journal, OpenAI claimed to train their software to discourage users from committing acts of real-world violence, and any indication of such behavior is directed to be reviewed by humans. 

The escalation to law enforcement is weighed against the risk of privacy concerns and the potential distress for the user and their family should police become unnecessarily involved. 

Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX which recently integrated with xAI, wrote on X that he found the news of OpenAI’s lack of action ‘troubling.’

The RCMP explained that Van Rootselaar began identifying as female six years ago, aged 12, and said there had been multiple call-outs to her home related to her mental health over the years.

Archived posts on social media were uncovered of Van Rootselaar posing at the gun range and claiming to have created a bullet cartridge using a 3D printer. 

Van Rootselaar, who stopped attending school four years ago at the age of 14, even had to be ‘apprehended for assessment’ under the country’s mental health act at one point.

‘Police have attended that residence in the past, approximately a couple of years ago, where firearms were seized under the Criminal Code,’ said Dwayne McDonald, Deputy Commissioner of British Columbia RCMP.

‘I can say that at a later point in time, the lawful owner of those firearms petitioned for those firearms to be returned, and they were.’ 

Sources told the Daily Mail that Van Rootselaar lived at the home with three relatives. 

Liam Irving said Van Rootselaar’s mother and younger brother were well known in the Tumbler Ridge community and were ‘good friends’ of his family.

‘There’s not one person in this town right now that’s not affected by this,’ he told the Western Standard. 

An emergency alert was issued to Tumbler Ridge residents around 1.20pm local time on the afternoon of February 10, warning of an active shooter in the area.

An urgent lockdown alarm sounded in the hallways shortly after 1.30pm, instructing students and staff to barricade the doors.

‘Once people sent me some photos, it definitely set in what was actually happening,’ the student said. 

‘They [the photos] were disturbing, just showing blood and things like that. That’s when it all really set in.’ 

The secondary school, which enrolls 175 students, and its elementary school, was closed for the rest of the week.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post that he was devastated by the shooting.

‘I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens,’ he wrote.

Carney’s office said he has suspended a planned trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Munich, Germany. 

He was set to announce a long-awaited defense industrial strategy in Halifax on Wednesday before heading to Europe for the Munich Security Conference.

David Eby, the province’s premier, told reporters he had spoken to Carney after what he called the ‘unimaginable tragedy’.

‘I know it’s causing us all to hug our kids a little bit tighter tonight,’ he said. ‘I’m asking the people of British Columbia to look after the people of Tumbler Ridge tonight.’