British Columbia has sued OpenAI in a California federal court, alleging the company could have helped prevent a mass shooting at a school in the Canadian province by alerting law enforcement to the suspect's use of ChatGPT, Bloomberg reported.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in San Francisco, names OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman as defendants. It seeks damages to help cover the costs of the February shooting in Tumbler Ridge, as well as an order requiring changes to how the company handles ChatGPT conversations that could indicate plans for violence.

According to the lawsuit, suspect Jesse Van Rootselaar had used ChatGPT before the attack. On February 10, Van Rootselaar allegedly killed five students and an educational assistant at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, as well as her mother and half-brother, before dying by suicide. The victims included students aged 12 and 13.

The Bloomberg report further mentioned that OpenAI internally flagged and banned one of Van Rootselaar's accounts for concerning activity in 2025 but did not alert Canadian authorities. The company later determined that she had a second account that had not been detected or stopped.

According to a separate report by The Guardian, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI leadership, including Altman, overruled a recommendation from safety staff to contact police. The claims are based in part on accounts from OpenAI whistleblowers cited by The Wall Street Journal following the shooting.

The lawsuit also alleges that after the first account was deactivated, Van Rootselaar was able to create another account and continue using ChatGPT.

OpenAI has previously said that its systems flagged the account for suspected misuse related to violent activity, but that the conduct did not meet its internal criteria for reporting to law enforcement.

The filing says the province is seeking to hold the company accountable over its handling of the suspect's conversations, including allegations that it ignored warnings from its own safety team and allowed the suspect to return to the platform.

"One telephone call to the RCMP could have prevented the tragedy," the lawsuit said, referring to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, according to Bloomberg report.

The province is seeking compensation for the harm caused by the shooting, including the costs of recovery and a replacement school, as well as mental health care and other expenses. It is also seeking injunctive relief requiring changes to OpenAI's practices.

British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma said the province had asked OpenAI to provide the conversations between Van Rootselaar and ChatGPT but that the company had refused.

"I want to be clear: I have not read the interactions between the shooter and ChatGPT," Sharma said. "We have asked OpenAI to disclose these chats. They have refused. We should all be asking them why."

In April, Altman published a letter to the Tumbler Ridge community apologising for the company's failure to alert law enforcement.

"I'm deeply sorry," Altman said in the letter, according to The Guardian.

An OpenAI spokesperson described the shooting as an "unspeakable tragedy" and said the company remained committed to working with government and law enforcement officials and advancing its safety work.

OpenAI has also said it trains its models to refuse requests that could "meaningfully enable violence" and alerts law enforcement when conversations indicate an "imminent and credible risk of harm to others".

British Columbia's case comes after more than 30 family members of victims and others affected by the Tumbler Ridge shooting filed lawsuits against OpenAI in California, according to The Guardian.chant