In a department-wide email, San Francisco police officers were this morning sent a photo of a young male arson suspect accused of tossing a Molotov cocktail at the Russian Hill home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. He also allegedly threatened to burn down OpenAI’s Mission Bay headquarters.
In the photo obtained by Mission Local, the man wears a light-colored hoodie and sweatpants. He stands in front of a white SUV, holding what appears to be a bottle in one hand.
A couple hours later, officers recognized the person from the photo and arrested him for allegedly tossing the petrol bomb at Altman’s home and purportedly threatening to burn down Altman’s company.
While police records list the suspect as between 20 and 25 years old, his age has not yet been verified. Mission Local has blurred his photo as it has not yet been confirmed that the suspect is an adult.
“At approximately 3:45am PT, an unidentified individual approached Sam’s residence and threw an incendiary device toward the property. The device landed nearby and extinguished. There were no injuries and only minimal damage was reported,” read a message from OpenAI’s corporate security team to employees, Wired reported.
Officers responded to a fire at Altman’s home near Chestnut and Jones streets around around 4:12 a.m, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The man purportedly threw a Molotov cocktail that caused a fire at the home’s exterior gate, then fled.
Just after 5 a.m. police responded to reports that a man had threatened to burn down a building in Mission Bay where OpenAI is headquartered. Police recognized the man and arrested him.
At 9:30 a.m., witnesses told Mission Local there were still multiple police vehicles near the 400 block of Mission Bay Boulevard., and that the area had been taped off.
“Early this morning, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s home and also made threats at our San Francisco headquarters,” a spokesperson for OpenAI wrote in a statement to Mission Local. “We deeply appreciate how quickly SFPD responded and the support from the city in helping keep our employees safe. The individual is in custody, and we’re assisting law enforcement with their investigation.”
The suspect’s name has not yet been identified. Public information officers and spokespeople for the San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.