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seven families of tumbler ridge victims sue openai in california court
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the families of tumbler ridge shooting victims have filed lawsuits against chatgpt company openai and its ceo sam altman in california court.
greg southam
/
postmedia
seven families of victims involved in the tumbler ridge shooting are suing openai and its founder sam altman in california court for negligence and violations of product liability standards.
the complaints, filed wednesday in san francisco court, allege that openai, the company behind chatgpt, failed to take actions that could have prevented the deaths and injuries that shattered the small northern b.c. town on feb. 10, in one of the worst mass shootings in canadian history.
john rice, lead canadian counsel for the victims, said the cases are about holding the artificial-intelligence giant accountable: “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.”
eight people were killed when 18-year-old jesse van rootselaar shot and killed her mother and half-brother in their home before going to the high school and opening fire, killing five children and an educator. the shooter died of a self-inflicted injury.
in february, openai said it had banned an account associated with van rootselaar eight months prior to the shooting, but did not notify law enforcement because the account’s activity did not meet its threshold for reporting an “imminent” or “credible” threat.
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the lawsuits accused company leadership of overruling employees who wanted to contact rcmp because any disclosure could jeopardize the company’s ipo, end altman’s tenure and harm the company’s valuation.
“sam altman and his leadership team knew what silence meant for the citizens of tumbler ridge,” stated the complaints. “they were focused on what disclosure meant for themselves. warning the rcmp would set a precedent: openai would be compelled to notify authorities every time its safety team identified a user planning real-world violence.”
openai does not ban users for violent activity, but only deactivates their account — something the shooter was able to bypass by creating a new account, said the lawsuits.
the complaints said the company had initially set up safeguards that stopped chatgpt from engaging with users about violence and self-harm, but removed that feature in 2024 when it realized the refusals suppressed user engagement.
they alleged the tumbler ridge shooting was “an entirely foreseeable result of deliberate design choices openai made,” and that the system was designed to maximize engagement, not safety, describing it as an “encouraging co-conspirator” for an 18-year-old shooter who was “growing increasingly isolated and fixated on violence.”
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the court documents also alleged openai engaged in unlicensed psychology and therapy in violation of california’s business and professional codes and that the artificial-intelligence company was aware its product was being used to plan and prepare for other violent acts.
they cited examples, including a man who used chatgpt to learn about explosives before detonating a tesla cybertruck in front of the trump international hotel in las vegas in january 2025, a 20-year-old gunman who used chatgpt before carrying out a mass shooting in florida in april 2025, and a teenager in finland who used chatgpt for nearly four months to prepare for an attack where he stabbed three 14-year-old girls at his school.
the lawsuits were filed by the families of six victims who died in the school shooting — ezekiel schofield, 13; abel mwansa jr. 12; kylie smith, 12; ticaria lampert, 12; zoey benoit, 12; and shannda aviugana-durand, 39 — and the family of maya gebala, 12, who was shot three times at close range and remains in hospital.
the lawsuits, which request jury trials, were filed by vancouver firm rice parsons leoni & elliot and u.s. lawyer jay edelson. the lawsuits did not name a specific dollar amount for damages but rice’s firm said it plans to pursue “landmark damage awards.”
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none of the allegations have been tested in court.
in a statement, a spokesperson for openai said the events in tumbler ridge were a tragedy.
“we have a zero-tolerance policy for using our tools to assist in committing violence,” said a spokesperson. “as we shared with canadian officials, we have already strengthened our safeguards, including improving how chatgpt responds to signs of distress, connecting people with local support and mental health resources, strengthening how we assess and escalate potential threats of violence, and improving detection of repeat policy violators.”
a lawsuit filed in march in b.c. supreme court by gebala’s family has been discontinued, said rice’s firm.
it said litigating these cases in canada is challenging. damages for pain and suffering are capped at about $470,000 in canada, it noted, and the estates of the victims killed are not allowed to bring claims in b.c. for damages against openai.
last week, altman sent a letter of apology to the community of tumbler ridge. it was published in full by local news site tumbler ridgelines.
“i am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement to the account that was banned in june,” said altman. “while i know words can never be enough, i believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered.”
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gebala’s mother cia edmonds released a statement through lawyers saying the devastated community does not accept the apology.
she questioned why openai refused to phone police after 12 employees urged the company to report the shooter’s chatgpt activity to rcmp: “you played a game of chance with our community where we were the only people who could ever lose,” she said.
lead counsel jay edelson said the residents of tumbler ridge are continuing to mourn the loss of family, friends, and classmates, while openai and altman “refuse to provide any answers, have not lifted a single finger to help the community and have taken no concrete steps to make us believe tragedies like this won’t keep happening on their watch.”
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