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Survivors and witnesses of the deadly Tumbler Ridge school shooting have filed 30 additional lawsuits in California against OpenAI and its founder Sam Altman, bringing the total number of legal claims to 37. The February 10 attack, carried out by 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, claimed eight lives and left an entire community traumatized. The new plaintiffs include teachers, a school principal, and students who witnessed the violence firsthand.
What Happened at Tumbler Ridge
Van Rootselaar first shot his mother and stepbrother before opening fire at the Tumbler Ridge school in British Columbia. The attack killed eight people and left survivors with lasting psychological and physical trauma. The shooting shook Canada and sparked widespread debate about the responsibilities of artificial intelligence companies.
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Among the new plaintiffs is a 13-year-old student identified only as A.C., who was trapped in the school library during the attack. Court documents describe how A.C. watched the shooter kill a teacher at close range before turning on classmates. “Numerous gunshots whipped past A.C.’s body, but thankfully he was not struck. To survive, he played dead among his fallen classmates,” the lawsuit states.
Harrowing Accounts from Survivors
Court filings paint a devastating picture of the chaos inside the school. Teacher Deidre Rushlow locked her classroom door and pulled students beneath her desk when the shooting began. The shooter reached her classroom, found the door locked, and fired shotgun blasts through the front door. While sheltering with her students, Rushlow called the library to check on others. Educational assistant Shannda Aviugana-Durand and several students in that library were killed.
Another filing describes the experience of 16-year-old D.I., who was in his science classroom when bullets began tearing through the classroom door. His teacher ordered students to hide under their desks. Moments later, the teacher left the room and returned carrying a younger student who had been shot and gravely wounded. D.I. watched blood spread across the classroom floor as the teacher administered first aid. The lawsuit recounts how D.I. will never forget the moment the teacher covered the injured student’s body with his jacket after her breathing slowed and then stopped. The teacher then moved D.I. and his classmates into a small storage closet adjoining the library, where they remained packed tightly together.
Legal Demands and Allegations Against OpenAI
Lawyer John Rice, who represents the victims, told Global News that the legal team wants full disclosure of all chat logs between Van Rootselaar and ChatGPT from the beginning through the date of the shooting. Rice also demanded disclosure of internal documents relating to OpenAI’s identification of the shooter as a potential threat and the company’s decision not to contact Canadian authorities.
In February, OpenAI confirmed that an account connected to Van Rootselaar was identified in June of the previous year and subsequently banned for violating usage policies. The company considered referring the account to law enforcement but concluded the activity did not meet the threshold for such a referral, as it did not involve an imminent or credible plan to cause serious physical harm.
Chicago-based attorney Jay Edelson, part of the cross-border legal team, said in April that the team intends to ask a jury to send a strong message to OpenAI. “We’ll be asking the jury to send a strong message to OpenAI that it can’t make a decision to put profits over the lives of little kids,” Edelson told Global News, adding that the team would likely seek at least one billion dollars in damages.
The civil allegations against OpenAI and Altman include negligence, negligent entrustment, aiding and abetting a mass shooting, strict product liability, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. All 37 lawsuits request trials by jury. Rice emphasized that the families also seek injunctive relief compelling corporate changes at OpenAI. “Probably most importantly for these families, they want to prevent another Tumbler Ridge,” he said.
OpenAI’s Response
OpenAI has stated it strengthened its safeguards following the Tumbler Ridge shooting. In a statement provided to Global News in April, a company spokesperson said the events in Tumbler Ridge were a tragedy and that OpenAI maintains a zero-tolerance policy for using its tools to assist in violence. The company said it improved how ChatGPT responds to signs of distress, enhanced connections to mental health resources, and strengthened its process for assessing and escalating potential threats of violence.
Neither OpenAI nor Altman has filed a statement of defence in response to the latest claims. None of the allegations have been tested in court.
