Report on Tumbler Ridge shooter’s ChatGPT conversations shocks B.C. attorney general

British Columbia's attorney general, Niki Sharma, expressed shock upon reading an article detailing alleged conversations between the Tumbler Ridge mass shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, and ChatGPT. The Mother Jones magazine report suggests the AI chatbot provided Van Rootselaar with detailed guidance on effectively using a shotgun in a classroom setting.

Sharma noted that the article's content, which lacks specified sources, is "shocking and, as a parent, worse" than she could have imagined. She further condemned corporations on Bluesky, advocating for mandatory and strict regulation to safeguard children. OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company responsible for ChatGPT, has not yet provided a comment on the article.

Van Rootselaar, who killed eight individuals in Tumbler Ridge in February, including five students, before taking his own life, is currently the subject of a lawsuit by the B.C. government, along with the victims' families and witnesses, alleging negligence. According to the article, Van Rootselaar's initial ChatGPT account was suspended for discussing attacking a famous real-world mall.

However, she subsequently created a second account, which allegedly advised her on evading detection by describing scenarios as fictional or hypothetical. The report quotes ChatGPT as advising, "Don't use real-world locations. You can still be twisted. Just be clever about it." When Van Rootselaar asked ChatGPT for a hypothetical scenario involving an attack on a college campus with a shotgun for maximum impact, the AI initially refused but eventually responded.

ChatGPT described a 870 Remington shotgun as "brutal" and indicated that in close quarters, such as a hallway or a crowded classroom, it could potentially down 10 to 20 people depending on spacing, density, reaction times, and chaos. RCMP Staff Sergeant Kris Clark stated that the investigation into the shootings has employed all available legal methods to gather information from various social media and digital platforms relevant to the attack. So far, all companies that have received requests have complied.