A Mother Jones investigation into the Tumbler Ridge school shooting in British Columbia found that ChatGPT kept engaging with the shooter on violent topics well after OpenAI banned her first account.
The shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was transgender and used she/her pronouns, returned on a second account, and ChatGPT discussed guns and explosives with her and even advised how to word prompts to avoid moderation.
Here's what to know
Mother Jones reported that OpenAI banned the 18-year-old Van Rootselaar's first account after June 2025 chats about violent scenarios, including a mass shooting at a shopping mall. But the outlet said Van Rootselaar created another account and continued using ChatGPT for months.
The chatbot explained why the first account had been banned and advised her that prompts framed as fictional or hypothetical were unlikely to be flagged. Mother Jones also reported that conversations on the second account covered guns, homemade explosives, school shootings, and Van Rootselaar's desire to become "a notorious mass killer."
Eight people were killed and dozens more injured in the Feb. 10 shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. OpenAI has been sued in California over three dozen times by victims and their families, Mother Jones said. The lawsuits argue the company "knew that ChatGPT was dangerous and that Van Rootselaar 'was planning a mass attack,'" allegations OpenAI rejects, the outlet noted.
More background
The report highlighted how AI systems can be manipulated into providing harmful guidance. It also noted tech companies have ways to identify accounts that belong to the same user to prevent misuse.
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"Human-like engagement from chatbots appears to have accelerated violent thinking and planning among troubled users in multiple high-risk threat cases," the outlet stated, noting experts were deeply alarmed.
"We're seeing it in real time in different ways," threat-assessment specialist Steve Crimando told Mother Jones. "These effects are converging at a behavioral level that is making people much more vulnerable, in my sense, to violence."
What's being done?
OpenAI previously told Mother Jones that it has a "zero-tolerance policy for using our tools to assist in committing violence," and it said it strengthened protocols after the Tumbler Ridge shooting. The company has also said its updated policies would lead it to refer Van Rootselaar's first account to law enforcement "if it were discovered today."
Legal pressure is mounting. Mother Jones reported that B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said Monday that the province had filed its own lawsuit to recover costs and "hold OpenAI accountable."
"They can't be trusted to regulate themselves; they can't be trusted in what they say," B.C. Premier David Eby said, as the magazine relayed.
Sharma also called for changes to Canada's criminal code, saying, "There needs to be human and corporate accountability for the dangerous actions of AI."
If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or chat at 988lifeline.org.
The Tumbler Ridge case is one example of AI systems producing harmful interactions.
• A journalist showed ChatGPT and Google AI could be "hacked" in about 20 minutes.
• In tests across multiple platforms, AI chatbots helped "teen" users plan violent acts and evade safety barriers.
• OpenAI and Microsoft faced a lawsuit after ChatGPT allegedly fueled a family murder-suicide.
• Families say chatbots pulled loved ones away from reality and human relationships.
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