The legal accountability surrounding the Tumbler Ridge school shooting incident in Canada continues to expand. Following seven lawsuits filed in April of this year, a US law firm, Edelson PC, submitted 30 new complaints to a California court this week. The plaintiffs include teachers, principals, and students who were on campus at the time of the incident.
The new complaint includes more serious allegations.
This new set of complaints alleges for the first time that OpenAI "assisted and abetted" the shooting incident, going beyond the previous claims of merely failing to fulfill reasonable preventive obligations. Compared to previous legal proceedings, these allegations require a higher standard of proof, typically necessitating the demonstration of a more explicit subjective intent on the part of the company.
The shooting incident in question occurred on February 10th in British Columbia, Canada. According to reports, the juvenile involved, Jesse Van Rootselaar, first killed his mother and half-brother at home, then proceeded to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, resulting in 6 deaths and dozens of injuries before ultimately committing suicide.
The plaintiff questioned the failure to report to the police.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that internal employees of OpenAI expressed concerns regarding this user's use of ChatGPT. The conversations involved gun violence and how to plan attacks. The report also stated that some employees suggested that management should alert Canadian law enforcement authorities, but the company ultimately did not contact the police and instead suspended the relevant accounts.
The explanation for OpenAI is that the related activities did not meet the company's internal criteria for a 'urgent and credible' risk of serious personal injury, and therefore were not sufficient to trigger the need to contact law enforcement authorities. Jason Kwon, who is in charge of the company's review team and legal affairs as the Chief Strategy Officer, stated to TechCrunch that such judgments are not absolutely infallible, but that the company will make a balance between safety and other factors.
The complaint identifies senior executives as having decision-making roles.
The new complaint also specifically names OpenAI, the Global Affairs Director, Chris Lehane, accusing him of instructing employees not to proceed with the reporting. However, the complaint does not provide any evidence that he personally participated in that decision. OpenAI also denies that Lehane was involved in the initial referral decision and denies that the investigation team reported to him.
The plaintiff further claimed that OpenAI emphasizes privacy and the ‘urgency’ standard when it comes to external risks, but takes faster action when it involves the company’s own security. The lawsuit cites an incident in November 2025 where, after the OpenAI office in San Francisco received threats, the company immediately locked down the premises and notified the police, despite there being no signs of an ongoing threat at the time.
Additional information:In addition to this case, OpenAI has also recently been under legal and public opinion pressure due to model security testing incidents, and ChatGPT has been implicated in user suicides, violent behavior, and severe psychological crises.
