A teacher and several students who survived the deadly Tumbler Ridge school shooting in British Columbia, Canada, have filed lawsuits against OpenAI, alleging that the company failed to act on warning signs in the alleged shooter’s conversations with ChatGPT.
The latest lawsuits were filed in a US federal court on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, bringing the number of lawsuits linked to the February 2026 shooting to 37. The plaintiffs include students, teachers and others who witnessed the attack.
The shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School left eight people dead and more than 25 others injured, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.
According to the lawsuits, the alleged shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, had engaged in troubling conversations with ChatGPT about gun violence before the attack.
The plaintiffs claim that OpenAI’s automated systems flagged some of the conversations and that members of the company’s safety team discussed whether law enforcement should be notified. However, they allege that the company ultimately decided not to contact Canadian authorities.
The lawsuits accuse OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, of negligence and product liability, while some of the claims allege that the company aided and abetted the shooting by failing to intervene despite allegedly being aware of warning signs.
The legal action also alleges that Van Rootselaar’s initial ChatGPT account was deactivated because of disturbing content, but that the alleged shooter later regained access through another account.
OpenAI has rejected suggestions that its safety decisions were influenced by political or public-relations concerns. The company has also said it has strengthened its safety and law-enforcement reporting protocols since the tragedy.
OpenAI has expressed regret over the Tumbler Ridge tragedy, while the victims’ lawyers are seeking access to the alleged shooter’s ChatGPT conversations and other records as part of their cases.
The lawsuits are expected to intensify scrutiny over the responsibility of artificial intelligence companies when users disclose plans to commit serious violence to their systems.
