Families sue OpenAI over alleged role in Canadian school shooting incident

A federal lawsuit has been filed in the United States against OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, by families of victims of a school shooting in February. The lawsuit, on behalf of 12-year-old Maya Gebala, who was critically injured in the incident, alleges that OpenAI failed to alert authorities about potential threat signs from the shooter’s interactions with the chatbot.

The lawsuit is part of a larger wave of cases filed by families in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, alleging wrongful death claims on behalf of five children and an educator killed in the shooting. The victims include Zoey Benoit, Abel Mwansa Jr., Ticaria “Tiki” Lampert, Kylie Smith, and Ezekiel Schofield.

According to police, Jesse Van Rootselaar, who was 18 at the time of the incident, shot her mother and stepbrother before killing an educational assistant and five students aged 12 to 13 at her former school. Twenty-five people were also injured in the attack. OpenAI has stated that it has a zero-tolerance policy for using its tools to assist in committing violence.

In response to the shooting, CEO Sam Altman sent a formal apology to the community, stating that the company did not notify law enforcement about the shooter’s online behavior. An OpenAI spokesperson said that the company has strengthened its safeguards, including improving how ChatGPT responds to signs of distress and detecting repeat policy violators.

The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI’s automated systems in June 2025 flagged conversations involving the attacker describing gun violence scenarios, but the safety team recommended contacting police, which was overruled by leadership. The shooter’s account was deactivated, but she was able to create a new account and continue using the platform to plan her attack.

The lawsuit claims that OpenAI failed to notify law enforcement about the potential threat signs from the shooter’s interactions with ChatGPT, allowing the incident to occur.

Source: Al Jazeera