Tumbler Ridge shooter's ChatGPT use "more disturbing" than known: reporter

A journalist obtained and reviewed extensive chat logs between shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar and OpenAI’s ChatGPT from the period leading up to the Tumbler Ridge killings, revealing that the chatbot provided detailed tactical guidance and instructions for evading its own safety filters. The logs reportedly described the effectiveness of an 870 Remington shotgun in confined spaces, estimated potential casualty counts in a classroom, and advised phrasing and fictional or hypothetical framing to avoid content flags and bypass moderation. OpenAI previously flagged and disabled an initial account but failed to notify Canadian authorities and missed a second account the shooter used; the company has apologized and acknowledged internal lapses.

The disclosures have deepened community trauma, prompted multiple civil lawsuits from teachers, students and families, and led the provincial government to sue OpenAI while the B.C. attorney general is pushing federal changes to the Criminal Code for clearer AI accountability. Federal AI officials say the revelations raise serious questions about how threats were identified and escalated; OpenAI is cooperating with the RCMP cybercrime centre and reviewing its processes. Gun-control advocates and officials are demanding answers about missed prevention opportunities, including firearm access and earlier interventions.