Camille Naredo

This photograph provided by local journalist Trent Ernst shows the middle school and high school building where a shooting took place, leaving at least nine people dead in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10, 2026. (Photo by Trent Ernst / AFP) / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / TRENT ERNST" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Article (news)

Tumbler Ridge

Reuters Wires

Family members of victims of one of Canada&#x27;s deadliest mass shootings sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in U.S. court on Wednesday, alleging the company identified the shooter as a credible threat eight months before the attack but did not warn police.The lawsuits, filed in federal court in San Francisco, accuse OpenAI leaders of not alerting police because it would have exposed the volume of violence-related conversations on ChatGPT and potentially jeopardized the company&#x27;s path to a nearly $1 trillion initial public offering.The February shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia left nine people dead, many of them children.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/2/12/canada-stunned-by-deadliest-school-shooting-in-decades-0121">READ: Canada stunned by deadliest school shooting in decades</a></div>&quot;We now know because of whistleblowers that OpenAI had flagged the account as being dangerous, as being an account where the shooter was discussing gun violence. Twelve people within the company were jumping up and down and saying, &#x27;we need to tell the authorities.&#x27; And the leadership at OpenAI said, &#x27;no, we need keep this quiet.&#x27; And that&#x27;s why you have a town that&#x27;s been decimated,&quot; said Jay Edelson, who is representing the plaintiffs, during an interview with Reuters. &quot;In my career, this is as close to pure evil as I&#x27;ve seen a company act, making a conscious decision to keep things quiet when you know that something horrible like this could happen.&quot;When presented with Edelson&#x27;s statements, an OpenAI spokesperson replied to Reuters referring to the Tumbler Ridge shooting as &quot;a tragedy,&quot; adding the company has a zero-tolerance policy for using its tools to assist in committing violence.&quot;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,&quot; the spokesperson said in a statement.The cases are part of a growing wave of lawsuits accusing artificial intelligence companies of failing to prevent chatbot interactions that plaintiffs say contribute to self-harm, mental illness and violence. They appear to be the first in the U.S. to allege that ChatGPT played a role in facilitating a mass shooting.Edelson also said he plans to file another two dozen lawsuits in the coming weeks against the company on behalf of other people impacted by the shooting.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1777481705483AFP__20260211__972W3G3__v1__HighRes__CanadaShootingCrime.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="This photograph provided by local journalist Trent Ernst shows the middle school and high school building where a shooting took place, leaving at least nine people dead in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10, 2026. Trent Ernst via AFP" width="960"/>This photograph provided by local journalist Trent Ernst shows the middle school and high school building where a shooting took place, leaving at least nine people dead in the small town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10, 2026. Trent Ernst via AFP</div>Jesse Van Rootselaar, whose interactions with ChatGPT are at the center of the lawsuits, shot her mother and stepbrother at home before killing an educational assistant and five students aged 12 to 13 at her former school on February 10, according to police. Van Rootselaar, who was 18, then died by suicide.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/2/12/canada-police-say-18-year-old-carried-out-mass-shooting-0740">READ: Canada police say 18-year-old carried out mass shooting</a></div>The plaintiffs are relatives of those killed at the school, as well as a 12-year-old girl who survived after being shot three times but remains in intensive care. According to one of the complaints, OpenAI&#x27;s automated systems in June 2025 flagged ChatGPT conversations in which the shooter described gun violence scenarios. Safety team members recommended contacting the police after concluding she posed a credible and imminent threat of harm, said the complaint, which cites a Wall Street Journal article from February about the company&#x27;s internal discussions. But Altman and other OpenAI leadership overruled the safety team and police were never called, the lawsuit alleges. The shooter&#x27;s account was deactivated, but she was able to get a new account and continue using the platform to plan her attack, the lawsuit claims. Following the publication of the Wall Street Journal article, the company said the account was flagged by systems that identify &quot;misuses of our models in furtherance of violent activities&quot; but the issues did not meet its internal criteria for reporting to law enforcement. Last week, a local Tumbler Ridge newspaper published an open letter in which Altman said he was &quot;deeply sorry&quot; the account was not flagged to law enforcement.The lawsuits seek an unspecified amount of damages and a court order requiring OpenAI to overhaul its safety practices, including mandatory law enforcement referral protocols. One of the victims originally filed her lawsuit in Canadian court but dismissed it to pursue her claims in California, Edelson said.The lawsuits over the Tumbler Ridge shooting come after multiple lawsuits against OpenAI have been filed in U.S. state and federal court in recent months over claims ChatGPT facilitated harmful behavior, suicide, and, in at least one case, a murder-suicide.The lawsuits, which are still in early phases, will force courts to grapple with what role an AI platform can play in promoting violence and whether the company can be held liable for its actions or the actions of its users.OpenAI has denied the claims in the lawsuits, arguing in the murder-suicide case that the perpetrator had a long history of mental illness.Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced earlier this month a criminal investigation into ChatGPT&#x27;s role in a 2025 shooting at Florida State University. <div>(Production: Ryan Patrick Jones, Dan Fastenberg)</div>

Family members of victims of one of Canada's deadliest mass shootings sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in U.S. court on Wednesday, alleging the company identified the shooter as a credible threat eight months before the attack but did not warn police.

Family members of victims of one of Canada's deadliest mass shootings sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in U.S. court on Wednesday, alleging the company identified the shooter as a credible threat eight months before the attack but did not warn police.

Families of Canadian mass shooting victims to sue OpenAI, CEO Altman in US court

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Sudoku

Word of the Day

Lotto

Horoscope

Technology

Families of Canadian mass shooting victims to sue OpenAI, CEO Altman in US court

Reuters

Published April 30, 2026 06:47 AM PHT

Read More:

OpenAI

Sean Altman

Tumbler Ridge

mass shooting

gun violence

ChatGPT

Canada

artificial intelligence

AI

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2026 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.