{
  "id": 9086022,
  "title": "British Columbia sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over Tumbler Ridge mass school shooting",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/22/british-columbia-sues-openai-and-sam-altman-over-tumbler-ridge-mass-9086022",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-22T04:29:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Technology",
    "slug": "guardian-technology",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/22/british-columbia-sues-openai-sam-altman-tumbler-ridge-school-shooting"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "British Columbia has sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, claiming the company could have prevented a school shooting in Tumbler Ridge if it had alerted local law enforcement about the shooter's use of ChatGPT to plan the attack. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco federal court, seeks damages to aid the province's recovery and orders for OpenAI to change its handling of potential violent ChatGPT conversations. Nine individuals, primarily children, were killed in the February tragedy. Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old shooter, had been flagged by the company's safety team after expressing gun violence concerns, but the company did not notify authorities. Altman issued an apology and promised reforms, but did not follow through on them, despite the attorney general's attempts to engage, according to the lawsuit. The school is being demolished, and the province has incurred expenses for a replacement facility, mental health services, and other post-shooting consequences. OpenAI's spokesperson, Drew Pusateri, described the incident as an \"unspeakable tragedy\" and pledged continued collaboration with government and law enforcement. The lawsuit follows over 30 family members' legal actions in California, accusing OpenAI of failing to prevent the shooting. Van Rootselaar had been flagged by ChatGPT in June 2025, but the company's safety team was overruled by Altman and other OpenAI leaders, as revealed by whistleblowers to the Wall Street Journal.",
  "summary": "Canadian province alleges deadly attack could have been prevented if company had warned police of shooter’s ChatGPT use British Columbia has sued OpenAI in California, saying a mass shooting at a school in the province could have been prevented if the company had warned local law enforcement that the shooter had used ChatGPT to plan the massacre. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Guardian",
        "title": "British Columbia sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over Tumbler Ridge mass school shooting",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/22/british-columbia-sues-openai-and-sam-altman-over-tumbler-ridge-mass",
        "published": "2026-09-22T04:29:22.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}