British Columbia Sues OpenAI, Sam Altman Over 9 Deaths in Tumbler Ridge School Shooting
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 22
British Columbia Sues OpenAI, Sam Altman Over 9 Deaths in Tumbler Ridge School Shooting
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 22
Summary
British Columbia filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court seeking damages and court-ordered safety changes, arguing the February Tumbler Ridge school massacre could have been prevented if OpenAI had warned police.
Nine people—mostly children—were killed after 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar allegedly used ChatGPT to plan the attack; the suit says OpenAI’s safety team flagged her violent chats in June 2025 but leadership overruled a recommendation to alert law enforcement.
The province says OpenAI deactivated the shooter’s account yet failed to stop her from opening another one, leaving British Columbia to cover a replacement school, mental-health care and other recovery costs.
Sam Altman had apologized to the community and promised reforms, the lawsuit says, but never followed through; OpenAI said the shooting was an "unspeakable tragedy" and that it remains committed to safety work with governments and police.
The case adds to mounting litigation over ChatGPT and violence, following more than 30 related California suits after the attack and Florida’s June lawsuit accusing OpenAI of misrepresenting platform safety.
Could a warning from ChatGPT have saved nine lives, or is holding algorithms accountable a dangerous legal illusion?
With safety teams allegedly overruled, will this lawsuit finally force tech giants to prioritize human lives over shiny products?
After the Tumbler Ridge Mass Shooting: British Columbia’s $200 Million Lawsuit Against OpenAI and the Global Reckoning Over AI Liability and Regulation
Overview
In June 2025, OpenAI's safety team flagged Jesse Van Rootselaar's ChatGPT account for violent threats but chose only to deactivate the account instead of alerting Canadian law enforcement. Van Rootselaar then bypassed the ban, created a new account, and later committed a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, killing eight people. This tragedy led to lawsuits from both the province of British Columbia and victims' families against OpenAI, as well as a public apology from CEO Sam Altman. The incident sparked major government funding for community recovery and fueled calls for stricter AI regulations and legal reforms to prevent similar failures in the future.