Teachers, students file new wave of lawsuits against OpenAI over Tumbler Ridge shooting
New legal filings describe the horror students and teachers experienced on Feb. 10 and include new details of OpenAI's alleged negligence in preventing the shooting.
30 new complaints to be filed alleging tech giant behind ChatGPT could have prevented tragedy
Matt Preprost · CBC News
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Lawyers representing victims and survivors of the Tumbler Ridge school shooting say they are filing 30 new legal complaints against OpenAI in U.S. federal court in California.
Edelson PC, a U.S. firm that specializes in class actions, says the new plaintiffs include educators, a principal and students, including siblings who were separated during the Feb. 10 attack in northern B.C.
The tragedy left eight victims dead, including six children, along with the 18-year-old shooter.
The lawsuits describe the horror they experienced that day and include new details of OpenAI's alleged negligence in preventing the shooting.
"The survivors — students, teachers, and parents alike — are living with physical and psychological injuries that will never fully heal," one lawsuit reads.
The new claims have been filed in California, where OpenAI is headquartered, and where seven other cases against the company have been filed by families of the shooting victims.
Edelson says OpenAI's safety team repeatedly asked to notify authorities about Jesse Van Rootselaar's activity on ChatGPT eight months before the tragedy, which allegedly included planning violent scenarios.
But the lawsuits allege those appeals were overruled by Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s head of global affairs.
They claim OpenAI's leadership "ignored its own safety staff and refused to alert police," yet acted to safeguard its own offices after learning of threats to employees three months before the Tumbler Ridge shooting.
The lawsuits accuse OpenAI of "choosing profit over the lives of the children of Tumbler Ridge" as it prepares to become a publicly-traded company.
OpenAI has not responded to a CBC News request for comment about the new lawsuits.
The company previously acknowledged that it banned Van Rootselaar's account in June 2025, but said the activity did not meet the "higher threshold required" to refer it to police at the time.
CEO Sam Altman has since apologized to the Tumbler Ridge community and says the company has updated its protocols.
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The B.C. government is also planning legal action against OpenAI, and has since demolished the site of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
The first set of lawsuits filed against the tech giant included the family of Maya Gebala, a 12-year-old student who was shot in the head and survived the shooting.
In a Facebook post Monday, Cia Edmonds shared a video of her daughter that showed her relearning to speak, saying "mom" into the camera before cracking a smile.
"Tears of awe as I watch her crawl out of the rubble that her mind lives in," Edmonds wrote. "One step at a time. She shows me, more and more what miracles look like."
WATCH | OpenAI's Sam Altman writes apology to Tumbler Ridge:
Altman apology just 'crocodile tears,' lawsuit needed to hold OpenAI accountable: lawyer
April 29|
Duration 6:19
Jay Edelson is a U.S. lawyer representing the families of the victims of the Tumbler Ridge, B.C., mass shooting, who are suing OpenAI in California. Edelson says the only way to hold the company accountable is to hurt its bottom line.Subscribe to CBC’s Fort St. John Weekly for a roundup of the best news and stories from B.C.’s Peace and Northern Rockies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matt Preprost is a reporter with CBC British Columbia based in Fort St. John. He has covered the B.C Peace region and Northern Rockies since 2013. Email him at fsj@cbc.ca
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