{"slug": "openai-faces-new-lawsuits-over-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-tragedy", "title": "OpenAI faces new lawsuits over Tumbler Ridge mass shooting tragedy", "summary": "OpenAI faces 30 new lawsuits filed Wednesday in a U.S. federal court in California over the February mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, which killed eight people, joining seven initial lawsuits filed in April. The suits, brought by lawyer Jay Edelson, accuse OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman of negligence and aiding and abetting the shooting, alleging the company knew of the shooter's violent intentions through ChatGPT interactions but did not alert law enforcement. OpenAI's head of strategy, Jason Kwon, said the company is approaching the litigation with respect and will engage in good faith.", "body_md": "# OpenAI faces new lawsuits over Tumbler Ridge mass shooting tragedy\n\n*Multiple new cases have been filed against OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT played a role in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting.*\n\nOpenAI is facing another wave of lawsuits in the wake of the February mass shooting in [Tumbler Ridge](/news/2026/2/11/tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-what-we-know-about-canadas-school-attack) in Canada’s province of British Columbia, which left eight people dead.\n\nOn Wednesday, 30 new complaints were reportedly filed in a United States federal court in California, including teachers and students who were witnesses and survivors at the school where most of the shooting took place, joining seven initial lawsuits filed in April.\n\n## Recommended Stories\n\nlist of 4 items- list 1 of 4\n[AI used to create viruses not found in nature for first time](/economy/2026/8/7/ai-used-to-create-viruses-not-found-in-nature-for-first-time) - list 2 of 4\n[US pushes looser approach to AI regulation, while EU pushes new law](/news/2026/9/2/us-pushes-looser-approach-to-ai-regulation-while-eu-pushes-new-law) - list 3 of 4\n[John Ternus succeeds Tim Cook as Apple CEO after 15 years](/economy/2026/9/1/john-ternus-succeeds-tim-cook-as-apple-ceo-after-15-years) - list 4 of 4\n[OpenAI says it detected malign activity months before Hugging Face attack](/economy/2026/8/27/openai-says-it-detected-malign-activity-months-before-hugging-face-attack)\n\nThe lawsuits accuse the San Francisco, California-based artificial intelligence giant and its CEO, Sam Altman, of negligence, as well as aiding and abetting a mass shooting.\n\nThe suits, brought by lawyer Jay Edelson, allege that the company knew about the intentions of the 18-year-old shooter who, in her interactions with OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT, had described scenarios involving gun violence, but that the leadership did not report their concerns to law enforcement, echoing earlier lawsuits on the matter.\n\nIn April, Altman penned a letter to the community apologising that the company did not alert law enforcement about the shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar.\n\n“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,” Altman wrote in the letter.\n\nAuthorities say that [Van Rootselaar](/news/2026/2/12/canada-police-identify-shooting-suspect-as-18-year-old-jesse-van-rootselaar) killed her mother and half-brother before going to the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire. Five children and one educator were killed at the school. More than 25 others were wounded before Van Rootselaar died from what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.\n\nOne of the new cases filed was on behalf of a 13-year-old identified as A C, who played dead after watching the shooter kill their classmates and the teacher. Another new case was brought by a grade seven teacher named Deidre Rushlow, who hid under her desk with her students during the rampage.\n\n“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about what happened at Tumbler Ridge, or the victims of this devastating tragedy and their families. It’s a constant and sobering reminder of the important and incredibly difficult work that many people in my team do each and every day,” Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s head of strategy, [wrote](https://x.com/jasonkwon/status/2095128559736226013?s=20) in a post on X on Wednesday.\n\n“We’ve been approaching this litigation with respect for both the legal process and the families and victims of this tragedy, and we’ll continue to engage in good faith with that process.”\n\nEdelson did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.\n\n## Growing legal pressure\n\nIn July, British Columbia’s Attorney General Niki Sharma [announced that the province ](/news/2026/7/7/canadian-province-sues-openai-over-alleged-chatgpt-linked-shooting-warnings)would also pursue “all legal avenues to hold OpenAI and its decision-makers accountable” for the shooting.\n\nThe company has faced a growing slate of suits, apart from the ones from British Columbia, alleging that its product played a role in incidents that led to users harming others and themselves.\n\nA recent lawsuit in Florida alleges that the company “actively assisted and encouraged the mass shooting” at Florida State University in April 2025.\n\nThere are other complaints filed on behalf of victims across the US and Canada alleging that the victims took their own lives after being pushed by ChatGPT to do so, including [a case in Quebec](/economy/2026/6/12/mother-sues-openai-in-us-after-daughters-death-linked-to-chatgpt-use) earlier this year.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-faces-new-lawsuits-over-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-tragedy", "canonical_source": "https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/9/2/openai-faces-new-lawsuits-over-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-tragedy?traffic_source=rss", "published_at": "2026-09-02 22:15:32+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-02 22:53:12.209723+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety", "ai-policy", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["OpenAI", "Sam Altman", "Jay Edelson", "Jesse Van Rootselaar", "Jason Kwon", "Tumbler Ridge Secondary School", "British Columbia", "Al Jazeera"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-faces-new-lawsuits-over-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-tragedy", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-faces-new-lawsuits-over-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-tragedy.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-faces-new-lawsuits-over-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-tragedy.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-faces-new-lawsuits-over-tumbler-ridge-mass-shooting-tragedy.jsonld"}}