{"slug": "british-columbia-province-sues-sam-altman-openai-for-role-of-chatgpt-in-mass-at", "title": "British Columbia Province sues Sam Altman, OpenAI for role of ChatGPT in mass shooting  at Tumbler Ridge. Lawsuits hit 38.", "summary": "The Province of British Columbia and the Board of Education of School District No. 59 sued Sam Altman and OpenAI over ChatGPT's role in the February 10, 2026 Tumbler Ridge mass shooting, in which Jesse Van Rootselaar killed 8 people — her mother, her 11-year-old half brother, 5 students at Tumbler Ridge school, and a teacher — before killing herself. The suit follows Altman's apology to the Tumbler Ridge community after OpenAI declined to alert law enforcement despite internal protocol flagging Van Rootselaar's disturbing chats and safety employees reportedly recommending notification in June 2025; OpenAI terminated the account instead. The filing is the 39th lawsuit tracked in the Tumbler Ridge case tracker.", "body_md": "**The Province of British Columbia and Board of Education of School District No. 59** just sued Sam Altman and OpenAI for their role in the mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge involving the shooter \n\nJesse Van Rootselaar, who used ChatGPT at one point.\n\nAltman [already issued an apology](https://tumblerridgelines.com/2026/04/24/openai-apologizes-to-tumbler-ridge/) to Tumbler Ridge community for OpenAI’s failure to alert law enforcement after internal protocol at OpenAI had flagged disturbing chats by Van Roostelaar and some OpenAI safety employees had [reportedly recommended notifying law enforcement](https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/nx-s1-5798896/tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-chat-gpt-lawsuit) in June 2025. OpenAI decided not to, but terminated the account. \n\nOn February 10, 2026, Van Rootselaar [killed 8 other people: her mother](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/livestory/active-shooter-alert-tumbler-ridge-secondary-school-bc-live-updates-9.7083740), 11-year-old half brother, 5 students at Tumbler Ridge school, and a teacher, before killing herself.\n\nThis is lawsuit Tumbler Ridge lawsuit No. 39. We updated to our case tracker.\n\n**DOWNLOAD COMPLAINT:**", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/british-columbia-province-sues-sam-altman-openai-for-role-of-chatgpt-in-mass-at", "canonical_source": "https://chatgptiseatingtheworld.com/2026/09/21/british-columbia-province-sues-sam-altman-openai-for-role-of-chatgpt-in-mass-shooting-at-tumbler-ridge-lawsuits-hit-38/", "published_at": "2026-09-21 18:33:41+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-21 19:03:03.860352+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety", "ai-policy", "ai-ethics", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["OpenAI", "Sam Altman", "Province of British Columbia", "Board of Education of School District No. 59", "Jesse Van Rootselaar", "ChatGPT", "Tumbler Ridge"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/british-columbia-province-sues-sam-altman-openai-for-role-of-chatgpt-in-mass-at", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/british-columbia-province-sues-sam-altman-openai-for-role-of-chatgpt-in-mass-at.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/british-columbia-province-sues-sam-altman-openai-for-role-of-chatgpt-in-mass-at.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/british-columbia-province-sues-sam-altman-openai-for-role-of-chatgpt-in-mass-at.jsonld"}}