Families Sue OpenAI Over Tumbler Ridge Shooting

What happened

On February 10, 2026, a shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia killed nine people including the perpetrator. The shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, aged 18, had engaged in violent conversations on ChatGPT months before the attack.

Seven lawsuits were filed in U.S. federal court in San Francisco against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on behalf of the victims. The suits allege that ChatGPT's design defects and OpenAI's negligence contributed to the violence, and that the company failed to report the shooter's violent interactions to law enforcement after banning the account in June of the prior year.

Less than a week before the lawsuits were filed, Altman apologized for the company's failure to alert law enforcement to the account that had been banned.

Reported impact

The shooting left nine people dead. Victims included five students aged 12 to 13, a 12-year-old girl who remains hospitalized after being shot in the head, Shannda Aviugana-Durand an educational assistant, the perpetrator's mother, and the perpetrator's 11-year-old half-brother.

Index analysis

The lawsuits allege that OpenAI avoided alerting police about the shooter's violent interactions with ChatGPT because doing so would force the company to create an internal system for reporting violent users to authorities, which would expose that ChatGPT poses a threat to human life.

Governance controls

OpenAI spokesperson Jamie Radice stated the company has already strengthened its safeguards in response to the incident.

Classification

Organizations

OpenAI (subject), Sam Altman (subject)

Category

Safety and wellbeing

Industry

Education and training

Country

Canada

Harm status

Actual harm

Intent

Unintentional

Timing

Post-deployment

Harm types

Physical death, Physical injury, Human or fundamental rights

Harmed

General public

Failure modes

Content moderation failure

Consequences

Litigation, Public apology

AI systems

ChatGPT

Sources and evidence

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