B.C. sues OpenAI over chats the RCMP never saw

On September 21, British Columbia announced it is suing OpenAI in California over the Feb. 10 Tumbler Ridge shooting. Attorney General Niki Sharma said the case rests on two claims: that OpenAI failed to tell law enforcement about threats made on ChatGPT, and that it designed an unsafe product. The province is seeking damages for its own losses. Sharma said that includes reimbursement for building a new Tumbler Ridge school, because the old one was demolished after the shooting.

Six children and two adults were killed. The 18-year-old shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said, as CBC News reported from Sharma’s news conference.

Reviewed, never reported

Sharma said the shooter’s conversation with ChatGPT was alarming enough to set off an internal review at OpenAI. It was not reported to the RCMP. She said she has not read the conversation herself.

“We have asked OpenAI to disclose these chats. They have refused. We should all be asking them: Why?”

OpenAI has described its side before. CBC reported on February 20 that the company had banned the account linked to Van Rootselaar in June 2025. OpenAI said the account was detected by automated tools and human investigations that “identify misuses of our models in furtherance of violent activities.” The company also said the activity did not meet the “higher threshold required” to refer an account to law enforcement, which it defines as an “imminent and credible risk” of serious physical harm. After the shooting, OpenAI said, it proactively contacted the RCMP. An RCMP spokesperson confirmed that contact but said OpenAI had at first only flagged the account internally.

OpenAI’s internal safety team had flagged the shooter’s ChatGPT activity as concerning, including scenarios involving gun violence, Global News reported.

Thirty-seven claims and a province

The province’s suit lands on a docket that already holds dozens of cases. Global News reported that 30 more lawsuits were filed in California in the weeks before the province’s suit, bringing the total to 37 claims against OpenAI and Sam Altman over the shooting. The new plaintiffs are educators, a principal and students. Their complaints allege that OpenAI’s safety team repeatedly asked to alert police about Van Rootselaar’s activity eight months before the attack, and that head of global affairs Chris Lehane overruled them. These are the plaintiffs’ allegations, and no court has ruled on them.

Sharma said the decision not to report the chats was made in California, where OpenAI is headquartered, and that this is one reason the province filed there. She said the province is working closely with the affected families and with the Board of Education for the Peace River South School District, but she kept the province’s claim apart from theirs:

“Our focus is on the losses that the province suffered as a result of the conduct and harm, so the basis for our claim for damages is quite different.”

“We owe it to the families, survivors, and everyone whose life was changed by this tragedy, to get answers and accountability,” Sharma said.

A request to Ottawa

Sharma has also written to federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser, AI Minister Evan Solomon and Minister Mark Miller, Global News reported, asking for Criminal Code changes that would put AI providers on an equal footing with other companies and industries. The federal AI minister had raised concerns about OpenAI’s safety protocols after the shooting, CBC reported.

OpenAI responded to the province’s suit in an emailed statement. It called the events at Tumbler Ridge an unspeakable tragedy and said: “Our thoughts remain with the victims, their families, and the entire community. OpenAI remains committed to working collaboratively with government and law enforcement officials, and continuing to advance our ongoing safety work.”