2 September 2026

Victims sue OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT enabled Canadian school shooting

First reported

TechCrunch, The Guardian and 1 other ran this on 2 September, all on the same day.

Thirty new lawsuits were filed in California federal court on behalf of Tumbler Ridge shooting victims, adding to seven suits filed in April. The February attack in rural British Columbia killed eight people, mostly children, and wounded dozens.
The suits allege OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot induced the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, to carry out the attack. They claim OpenAI safety staff flagged her account as a credible gun violence threat eight months before the shooting.
OpenAI banned Van Rootselaar's account after internal warnings, but she created a new one. The company did not alert Canadian police, saying her behavior did not meet the threshold of imminent threat required for law enforcement contact.
The new complaints accuse OpenAI of aiding and abetting the shooting, a harder legal standard than negligence. They allege Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, overruled safety team recommendations to contact authorities.
OpenAI's chief strategy officer Jason Kwon denied that Lehane was involved in the decision and stated the company prioritizes safety. Sam Altman previously apologized to the Tumbler Ridge community but did not notify police about the threat.