OpenAI now faces 37 cases over Tumbler Ridge. Thirty new lawsuits were filed in federal court on September 2, 2026, accusing the company of negligence and of aiding a mass shooting linked to its ChatGPT chatbot.
The lawsuits concern the February 10, 2026, school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The attack killed eight people and wounded dozens more, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.
The shooter was identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar. The shooting took place shortly after Van Rootselaar killed her mother and 11-year-old brother, according to the claims in the lawsuits.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot allegedly induced Van Rootselaar to carry out the attack. The plaintiffs accuse OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, of negligence, aiding and abetting a mass shooting, and product liability—charges that place the company’s safety systems at the center of the case.
Warnings, Bans, and a New Account
OpenAI’s safety team flagged Van Rootselaar’s account as a credible threat of gun violence eight months before the attack, according to the lawsuits. Employees on the safety team raised concerns about the account, but the legal claims allege that repeated appeals to alert authorities did not produce a law-enforcement referral.
The lawsuits say OpenAI’s head of global affairs, Chris Lehane, received warnings about Van Rootselaar but overruled those appeals. The company banned her account, yet she was able to quickly create a new one. A safety ban that lasts until the user opens another account is less of a safeguard than a polite suggestion.
OpenAI’s chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon, rejected claims about Lehane’s role in the referral decision. “It is absolutely false to say Chris Lehane was involved with our original referral decision, or that our investigators report to him in any way,” Kwon stated.
Kwon also stated that OpenAI works to create standards for reporting cases to law enforcement. The lawsuits now put that claim beside allegations that the company had a credible threat warning, banned the account, and still failed to prevent access through a new account.
A Growing Legal Fight Over ChatGPT’s Risks
Seven initial suits were filed against OpenAI in April 2026, bringing the total number of cases over the Tumbler Ridge shooting to 37 after the new filings. Jay Edelson is the lead lawyer representing the plaintiffs.
“These were people who really endured just total hell that day,” Edelson said. He also accused OpenAI of hiding information about the risks of its platform to avoid regulation and public backlash: “What’s clear is that OpenAI over and over has made decisions to hide how dangerous their platform is because they’re worried about regulation and public pushback.”
The Tumbler Ridge cases add to existing legal pressure on OpenAI. The company has been sued in seven separate cases that blame ChatGPT for acting as a “suicide coach,” while a criminal investigation and civil lawsuit in Florida accuse OpenAI of concealing safety risks after a mass shooting at Florida State University.
A memorial for the Tumbler Ridge victims took place on February 14, 2026. The lawsuits will now test whether OpenAI’s account warnings, reporting standards, and user bans met a legal duty—or whether the company’s safety controls failed at the moment they mattered most.
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