British Columbia has sued OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, in federal court in San Francisco, alleging that a mass school shooting in the province could have been prevented if the company had warned law enforcement that the shooter was using ChatGPT to plan the massacre. The province is seeking damages to fund recovery efforts and a court order directing changes to the way the company handles ChatGPT conversations that could lead to violence.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday, names OpenAI and Altman as defendants. Eight victims died. The February 10, 2026, attack in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, is among Canada’s worst mass shootings, according to officials. The Guardian reported that nine people, primarily children, were killed, a figure that appears to include the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, who died by suicide at the scene. Al Jazeera reported eight victims, excluding the shooter from its count. Van Rootselaar, 18, a former student at the school, shot her mother and stepbrother at their home, according to the Guardian, though Al Jazeera identified the relative as her half-brother, before going to her former school, where she killed an educational assistant and five students aged 12 and 13, then died by suicide, according to police.
What the company knew and when
Van Rootselaar’s interactions with ChatGPT were first flagged by the company’s safety team in June 2025, months before the attack, according to the lawsuit, which cites OpenAI whistleblowers who spoke to the Wall Street Journal in the wake of the shooting. Team members recommended contacting police. Altman and other OpenAI leadership overruled them. The company did not alert police. The company deactivated Van Rootselaar’s account, but she was able to get a new account and continue using the platform to plan her attack.
After the Wall Street Journal article was published, OpenAI said the account had been flagged by systems that identify “misuses of our models in furtherance of violent activities,” but the issues did not meet the company’s internal criteria for reporting to law enforcement. Altman published a letter to the community in April saying he was “deeply sorry” OpenAI had not contacted law enforcement. He promised reforms. He never followed through, the lawsuit says, despite efforts by British Columbia’s attorney general, Niki Sharma, to engage the company.
The costs and the legal fallout
The school where the shooting took place is in the process of being demolished, and the province has been forced to absorb the costs of a replacement school, mental health care, and other effects of the shooting, according to the lawsuit. The British Columbia government is seeking financial compensation from OpenAI to cover past and future costs tied to emergency response and community recovery efforts. The lawsuit also seeks a court order forcing the company to overhaul how it identifies and handles user conversations that threaten violence. More than 30 lawsuits have been filed in the same California federal court by family members of victims, survivors, and others affected by the attack, accusing OpenAI of opting out of a chance to prevent the shooting.
Sharma said in a statement that Tumbler Ridge residents deserved answers and accountability. “This action is an important step toward seeking justice for the families, students, educators and community members whose lives were forever changed,” she said. She said the lawsuit raises serious questions about the responsibilities of tech firms when they become aware of credible threats of violence. “This case highlights the urgent need for strong national safeguards for artificial intelligence technologies and online platforms,” she said.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri called the Tumbler Ridge shooting an unspeakable tragedy. “OpenAI remains committed to working collaboratively with government and law enforcement officials, and continuing to advance our ongoing safety work,” Pusateri said. OpenAI has denied the claims in the cases against it. The company has said it trains its models to refuse requests that could “meaningfully enable violence” and notifies law enforcement when conversations suggest “an imminent and credible risk of harm to others.”
The British Columbia lawsuit is part of a broader wave of litigation against OpenAI over claims that ChatGPT facilitated violence, with cases mounting in courts across the United States. A series of cases have been filed in US state and federal courts in recent months, including lawsuits related to a mass shooting at Florida State University last year. In June, Florida became the first state to sue OpenAI over safety risks, accusing the company of misrepresenting the safety of its ChatGPT platform. That lawsuit said the platform had harmed children by providing information to school shooters, offering guidance on self-harm, and addicting young users.