30 lawsuits filed against OpenAI over Tumbler Ridge mass shooting

Thirty lawsuits were filed Sept. 2 in U.S. District Court against OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman, and the OpenAI Foundation on behalf of survivors and families affected by the Feb. 10, 2026 mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia. The Edelson law firm, which has represented dozens of families in casualties and personal injury cases against AI companies, is bringing the suits.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, killed her mother and 11-year-old brother at their home before opening fire at the school, where she killed five children and one education assistant. Two students were severely wounded, including a 12-year-old girl shot in the head who suffered catastrophic brain injuries. Nearly 200 students and teachers were trapped in classrooms and closets for hours. At least nine people were killed and 27 others injured.

Plaintiffs include a 19-year-old student shot in the chest, a gym teacher who hid students, and a student who played dead among fallen classmates.

According to the lawsuits, OpenAI's systems flagged a ChatGPT account allegedly connected to Van Rootselaar in June 2025 after detecting a violation of its usage policy. The account was sent to human review to determine if policies had been violated and whether referral to law enforcement was warranted. OpenAI did not alert authorities until after the shooting.

"ChatGPT played a role in the mass shooting and OpenAI could have, and should have, prevented it," the lawsuit states. It alleges that "ChatGPT deepened the shooter's violent fixation and pushed them toward the attack—the predictable result of OpenAI's deliberate design choice to let ChatGPT engage with users about real-world violence."

The lawsuits claim OpenAI's silence was not about privacy but "concern for its own reputational and financial standing." Sam Altman apologized to families at the end of April and OpenAI vowed to make reforms.