B.C. 'preparing legal action' against OpenAI in wake of Tumbler Ridge mass shooting

B.C. 'preparing legal action' against OpenAI in wake of Tumbler Ridge mass shooting

February tragedy left 8 victims dead, including 6 children

The B.C. government has retained counsel to pursue legal action against OpenAI for the role it alleges the company played in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting.

On Feb. 10, a shooter killed her mother and half-brother, then went to the local secondary school and killed five children, aged 12 and 13, and an educator. The 18-year-old shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

On Tuesday morning, Sharma told media the province owes it to the community to prevent something like this from happening again.

"The province is preparing legal action to hold artificial intelligence company OpenAI and its decision makers accountable for their failure to notify law enforcement of the violent prompts made on its ChatGPT platform by the perpetrator prior to the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge," Sharma said.

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In April, families of the victims announced they were taking OpenAI and its co-founder Sam Altman to court in California "to pursue landmark damage awards."

Their lawyers said in a news release that the Tumbler Ridge shooter's ChatGPT account was banned for "disturbing content," which allegedly included planning violent scenarios, prior to the February tragedy.

OpenAI has said it banned the account associated with the shooter in June 2025, but that the content didn't meet the threshold to report it to authorities.

A letter of apology from Altman was published in the local Tumbler Ridge newspaper, Tumbler RidgeLines, on April 24. In it, Altman said he was "deeply sorry" the company did not alert law enforcement about the shooter's account.

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Sharma says the province is in the early stages of the legal process, adding that while the timeline on legal action is unclear, she is committed to keeping the public informed as the case progresses.

The province has retained CFM Lawyers in Vancouver, as well as law firm Stranch, Jennings & Garvey, based in California, where OpenAI is head-quartered.

"We will pursue every available avenue to hold OpenAI and its decision-makers accountable because no company or corporate leader should be beyond scrutiny when public safety is at stake," Sharma said.

With files from Lauren Vanderdeen