Crime & Justice
British Columbia sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over ChatGPT role in Tumbler Ridge school shooting
September 22, 2026 at 05:28 AM · Updated 24d ago
Coverage
3 reports · over 3 hours
TGThe Guardian
British Columbia sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over Tumbler Ridge mass school shooting
(opens the publisher’s site)
AJAl Jazeera English
Canada’s BC sues OpenAI over ChatGPT role in Tumbler Ridge school shooting
(opens the publisher’s site)
BNBBC News
Canadian province sues OpenAI over Tumbler Ridge school shooting
(opens the publisher’s site)British Columbia has sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging the company failed to warn police that the Tumbler Ridge shooter used ChatGPT to plan the attack.
- The lawsuit, filed Monday in San Francisco federal court, seeks damages for recovery costs and a court order overhauling how OpenAI handles conversations that threaten violence.
- In the February 10 attack, former student Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, killed her mother and stepbrother, then five students and an educator at her former school, before dying by suicide.
- The lawsuit alleges OpenAI's safety team flagged the shooter's conversations in June 2025 but leadership overruled recommendations to contact police.
- Altman published an April letter saying he was "deeply sorry" the company had not contacted law enforcement and promising reforms.
- Attorney General Niki Sharma said the lawsuit raises questions about tech companies' duties when aware of credible threats and that OpenAI refused to disclose the chats.