Seven families of those killed or injured in the Tumbler Ridge shooting in British Columbia in February have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, National Post has learned.
Legal Action Details
In legal documents shared with National Post, the law firm of Rice Parsons Leoni & Elliott accuses Altman and OpenAI of negligence, aiding and abetting a mass shooting, wrongful death and other charges. The seven suits each request a trial by jury.
The actions were filed in a California court Wednesday by a joint legal team from Canada and the United States. A previous lawsuit filed in a Canadian court by the family of one survivor, 12-year-old Maya Gebala, is being withdrawn, the firm said.
Statements from Counsel
“All Canadians are sickened and horrified by the Tumbler Ridge Mass Shooting,” said John Rice, lead Canadian counsel, in a statement to National Post. “We cherish our schools as places of safety, learning, sports, nurturing and friendship. Based on what we understand the shooter to have discussed with ChatGPT, this murderous rampage was specific, predictable, and preventable — and OpenAI had the chance to stop it.”
ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot application developed, owned and maintained by OpenAI.
“What the families of those murdered have lost and what these kids and teachers witnessed is unacceptable,” Rice continued. “It is the type of point-blank gun murder rarely seen anywhere, even in a theatre of war.”
He added: “What do the victims of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting want? Never again should another AI-predicted and facilitated mass-shooting occur. Full stop.”
Background of the Incident
Eight people were killed, including six children, when 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar opened fire at a secondary school and a nearby home in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. on Feb. 10. Van Rootselaar also died by suicide.
Allegations Against OpenAI
The law firm alleges that in June 2025, about eight months before the shooting, OpenAI flagged and banned the shooter’s ChatGPT account for “disturbing content” which allegedly included the discussion and planning of violent scenarios.
“However, despite some 12 different OpenAI employees imploring the company to notify Canadian law enforcement about the shooter’s plans, nothing else was done,” the firm said in a statement. “OpenAI has also disclosed that the shooter had opened a second ChatGPT account which was active at the time of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting.”
The firm said litigating these cases in Canada would be problematic, since damages for pain and suffering are capped at about $470,000, and the largest punitive award ever made here was $1.5 million.
“With respect to the murdered children, their estates are not permitted to bring claims in British Columbia for damages against OpenAI, and in most cases the loved ones of wrongfully killed children are unable to recover any recompense under British Columbia’s Family Compensation Act,” it added.
