Court documents reveal confusion around number of shooters in Tumbler Ridge killings

VANCOUVER – In the moments after police responded to the Feb. 10 mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., officers weren’t sure how many shooters were involved as RCMP had received different names.

The confusion is revealed in legal documents released as part of a court challenge by a media consortium, which includes The Canadian Press. The heavily redacted documents include three “information to obtain,” or ITO, requests that police provided as they sought warrants in the case.

In one ITO, filed in March, RCMP said that artificial intelligence company OpenAI was not under investigation in the mass shooting, as they sought an order for the firm to hand over data about the shooter’s ChatGPT accounts.

The documents describe the chaotic first moments when police responded to the attack, and how different names for teenage shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar initially led police to believe there were two attackers at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

They also go into detail about the scenes both the home where Van Rootselaar shot dead her mother and brother, whose bodies were found with shotgun shell casings strewn on the floor and empty shotgun nearby, and at the school where Van Rootselaar shot at police before killing herself.

The redactions to the documents include descriptions of weapons used in the attack, prompting criticism from gun-control group PolySeSouvient, which said Canadians have a right to know what weapons were used, and how they were obtained.

Five schoolchildren and an education assistant were found dead at the school in killings that prompted a national outpouring of grief.

“Sgt. (Bill) Hughes and two other members responded to the scene and entered to find the location of the gunshots,” says an ITO from Feb. 20. 

“Police were shot at by the suspect which caused them to hold while being shot at.”

Police entered the school and found a young boy dead in a stairwell, then four more bodies in the library “where most of the shooting occurred,” before Van Rootselaar’s body was found with a “self-inflicted wound,” the document says.

An earlier ITO dated Feb. 11, the day after the attack, says that the incident commander, Insp. Chris Riddle, reported the suspect was Jesse Jacobs, a “male that identified as female” who was “obsessed with guns.”

It describes calls to police about an SUV being driven away from the home where two bodies had been found, then about the shootings at the school.

The vehicle was reported to have backed into a snow bank, suffering rear side damage, before being driven “quickly and erratically” from the family’s home.

A caller identified the driver by an apparent nickname, “Steezy,” and said “that the male dresses like a female.”

The caller also reported “two dead bodies and shotgun shells on the floor” and that “the eldest son was armed and had left.”

Riddle said there was a possible second shooter, “Jesse Vanrootselaar,” who lived where their mother and brother were found dead. The documents also say the suspect was known as Jesse Strang.

The information, part of an application for a warrant for the family home and the Hyundai Palisade that Van Rootselaar drove to the school, says it wasn’t until police reviewed footage from the school that they confirmed a single shooter was involved.

The ITO dated Feb. 20 sought access to electronic and other information and documents, such as suicide notes, manifestos, journal entries on Van Rootselaar’s phone and other devices, including cameras, two laptops and memory cards. Those had been seized as a result of searches authorized under the original warrant request.

“Biological evidence” was also located, as well as “several documents supporting residency for Jesse.”

“The investigation has revealed that Jesse had mental health problems and was fascinated by firearms,” the ITO says.

It describes the autopsies of Van Rootselaar and the victims, although the victims’ results are redacted.

Numerous witness statements are also redacted, as is a four-page description of what police saw on the school’s camera footage.

The ITO says that on Feb. 15, investigators were told by the FBI that artificial intelligence company OpenAI had located two ChatGPT accounts believed to have been used by the shooter. Further description of the accounts is redacted.

A third ITO, dated March 6, seeks the order that OpenAI produce material related to the two ChatGPT accounts.

“OpenAI voluntarily disclosed to police that they located two ChatGPT accounts they believed belonged to the shooter of Tumbler Ridge and that the accounts contain relevant information to this investigation,” RCMP Const. Jonathan Paquin wrote.

The office of B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said in a statement on Thursday that the government was pursuing civil action in both British Columbia and California against OpenAI for its failure to notify law enforcement of threats on its ChatGPT platform.

The statement said it was up to law enforcement to determine whether companies became subjects of criminal investigations, adding the government respected the independence of the police investigation.

When asked about past statements by public officials, including Premier David Eby, critical of OpenAI, Sharma’s ministry says those comments have focused on concerns that OpenAI failed to report information about the shooter’s account to police and the broader issue of artificial intelligence safety.

The RCMP didn’t reply to a request for comment Thursday when asked about what was contained in the information OpenAI gave to police, if it would release any more information about the guns used in the killings or when its investigation would be completed. 

Solicitor General Nina Krieger said in May that police were nearing the end of their investigation. 

The court documents say that police read a Wall Street Journal report on Feb. 20, stating that one of Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT accounts came under internal review in June 2025 and was then banned, over a chat that could have been related to the school shooting.

Paquin wrote that he spoke to OpenAI lawyer Jeff Shih on March 3 to learn how the company keeps records of subscriber prompts and responses from the AI model. 

“To the best of my knowledge, information and belief, OpenAI OpCo, LLC, is not under investigation for the named offence,” he writes.

The resulting production order signed by a judge on March 6 told OpenAI to produce ChatGPT records from the two accounts used by Van Rootselaar. The judge gave the company 14 days to provide the material to the RCMP.

The March 6 ITO also describes efforts to trace a number of firearms, including at least one shotgun. Descriptions related to the other weapons are redacted.

PolySeSouvient said it was disappointed by the redactions.

“Canadians have a right to know what weapons were used, how the shooter obtained them, and whether any were modified, as well as if accessories like high-capacity magazines were used that increased their lethality,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

“This information is essential to understanding whether existing laws and their enforcement, such as licensing, safe-storage rules, firearm classifications and accessory restrictions failed to prevent or to minimize the lethality of this tragedy.”

It said disclosure would allow assessments about whether guns capable of causing mass casualties remain accessible or are prohibited but still in circulation, and if there are any gaps in gun laws, including whether gun-modification laws are adequate.

Neither RCMP nor OpenAI immediately responded to questions about the documents. A spokesperson for B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said the government was preparing a response.

The March ITO says that just over three weeks after the killings, 80 statements had been taken from teachers, students, first responders and community members.

It includes a seven-page section about Van Rootselaar’s social media activity that is entirely redacted.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2026.