British Columbia sues OpenAI in California over Tumbler Ridge school shooting

Legal action filed in California

The provincial government of British Columbia filed a lawsuit on 21 September 2026 in the United States District Court in San Francisco against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman. British Columbia Attorney General and Deputy Premier Niki Sharma announced the legal filing, accusing the company of negligence and designing an unsafe product. The lawsuit asserts that OpenAI failed to notify the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after its safety reviewers flagged violent interactions from an 18-year-old user months before a fatal school attack. Provincial officials filed the suit in California because OpenAI made its operational decisions regarding the account in that jurisdiction. The province seeks court-ordered overhauls of how OpenAI handles violent threats, along with financial compensation to cover emergency response costs and the rebuilding of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

“This action is an important step toward seeking justice for the families, students, educators and community members whose lives were forever changed.”

The February attack in Tumbler Ridge

The legal action stems from the 10 February 2026 attack in the northern British Columbia community of Tumbler Ridge. The shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, killed her mother and half-brother at their home before proceeding to her former secondary school. At the school, Van Rootselaar killed five students aged 12 and 13 as well as a 39-year-old educator before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The attack resulted in nine total deaths, including the perpetrator, and left between 25 and 27 people injured. Police had visited the family home multiple times prior to the attack regarding mental health concerns. Following the tragedy, authorities demolished the school building.

Flagged conversations and OpenAI response

The lawsuit claims the shooting could have been prevented if OpenAI had acted on warnings from its human review team. Reviewers at the company first detected Van Rootselaar's interactions concerning firearms and violence in June 2025. Although OpenAI suspended the original account, the user later established a second account to access the service. OpenAI defended its conduct by asserting that the conversations did not meet internal criteria for reporting to police because they did not indicate an imminent attack. In April 2026, Altman released an open letter apologizing for the failure to alert law enforcement. British Columbia Premier David Eby described the apology as necessary yet grossly insufficient.

“In any other circumstance where a person aids, encourages or conspires to commit a criminal offense or is criminally negligent, they can be investigated, prosecuted and judged. No company should be exempt from accountability simply because the technology is new.”

Broader litigation and policy demands

The British Columbia lawsuit joins more than 30 civil actions filed in California federal court by victims' families and survivors by early September 2026. The government complaint alleges that ChatGPT features reinforced violent ideation rather than directing the user to professional help. Provincial officials noted that OpenAI vice president of global policy Ann O'Leary and company executives failed to implement safety changes promised after the shooting. Sharma stated that OpenAI also refused provincial requests to disclose the shooter's chat logs. In response, an OpenAI spokesperson described the attack as an unimaginable tragedy and stated that the company remains committed to cooperating with government authorities and law enforcement.