Family Sues OpenAI Over School Shooting Incident
The family of a girl critically injured in a mass shooting at a Canadian school has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. They allege the company was aware that the suspect had been planning an attack but failed to notify authorities.
Twelve-year-old Maya Gebala was shot in the neck and head during the attack in Tumbler Ridge on 10 February and remains hospitalized.
An initial ChatGPT account linked to the suspect, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, was banned by OpenAI in June 2025 due to the nature of her conversations with the chatbot. However, Canadian police were not informed.
OpenAI stated to the BBC that it is committed to implementing "meaningful changes" to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.
The attack resulted in eight fatalities, including five young children and the suspect's mother, marking it as one of the deadliest shootings in Canadian history.
Details of the Lawsuit
The civil lawsuit, filed by Gebala's mother, Cia Edmonds, claims that Rootselaar created a ChatGPT account before turning 18, which is allowed with parental consent. The plaintiffs argue that no age verification was conducted on the platform.
The lawsuit states that the suspect regarded the chatbot as a "trusted confidante" and described "various scenarios involving gun violence" over several days in late spring or early summer 2025.
According to the lawsuit, twelve OpenAI employees flagged these posts as "indicating an imminent risk of serious harm to others" and recommended notifying Canadian law enforcement.
However, the request to contact authorities was allegedly "rebuffed," and the only action taken was banning Rootselaar's account.
OpenAI has previously explained that it did not alert police because the account did not meet its threshold for a credible or imminent plan of serious physical harm to others.
The suspect was reportedly able to open a second ChatGPT account despite prior flags by OpenAI systems and continued planning scenarios involving gun violence.
The lawsuit asserts that the company "had specific knowledge of the shooter's long-range planning of a mass casualty event," but "took no steps to act upon this knowledge."
As a result of the company's alleged inaction, Gebala, who was shot three times after attempting to lock a library door to prevent the shooter’s entry, has suffered a "catastrophic brain injury."
OpenAI's Response
In a statement to the BBC, an OpenAI spokesperson described the events as an "unspeakable tragedy," expressing condolences to the victims, their families, and the community.
"OpenAI remains committed to working with government and law enforcement officials to make meaningful changes that help prevent tragedies like this in the future," the spokesperson said.
On 4 March, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met virtually with Canada's artificial intelligence minister, Evan Solomon, and British Columbia Premier David Eby.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Altman "pledged to strengthen protocols on notifying police over potentially harmful interactions" and to apologize to the Tumbler Ridge community.
In an open letter dated 26 February to Canadian officials, authored by OpenAI's vice-president of global policy and shared with media, the company outlined recent changes. These include consulting "mental health and behavioural experts" to assess cases and making the criteria for police referrals "more flexible."
OpenAI stated that under the new guidelines, it would have reported the suspect's ChatGPT account.
"We commit to strengthening our detection systems to better prevent attempts to evade our safeguards and prioritize identifying the highest risk offenders," the company wrote.
Additionally, OpenAI plans to establish a direct point of contact with Canadian law enforcement to quickly flag any future cases with "potential for real world violence."
Canada's AI minister Evan Solomon commented on 27 February that while legislators recognize the company's willingness to improve protocols, "we have not yet seen a detailed plan for how these commitments will be implemented in practice."
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