Family of girl wounded in Canada school shooting sues OpenAI

Mohan Sinha
14 Mar 2026, 21:54 GMT+10

The parents of a girl critically wounded in a school shooting in Canada on March 9 sued ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, which they claimed knew the shooter was planning a mass attack
OpenAI said it had looked into the actions of a person who later carried out one of Canada’s worst school shootings in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10, but it did not inform the police at the time
After the attack last month, when Jesse Van Roostselaar killed eight people and then herself, OpenAI contacted the police

VANCOUVER, Canada: The parents of a girl critically wounded in a school shooting in Canada on March 9 has sued ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, which they claimed knew the shooter was planning a mass attack.

OpenAI said it had looked into the actions of a person who later carried out one of Canada's worst school shootings in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, on February 10, but it did not inform the police at the time.

After the attack last month, when Jesse Van Roostselaar killed eight people and then herself, OpenAI contacted the police. The company said her ChatGPT account had already been closed, but she got around the ban by using a second account.

A legal claim filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court says that OpenAI had "specific knowledge" that the shooter was using ChatGPT to plan a mass-casualty attack like the Tumbler Ridge shooting.

The lawsuit claims the shooter treated ChatGPT as a trusted helper, partner, and supporter, and that the chatbot was willing to assist users like her in planning a deadly attack.

An OpenAI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also says that because of the company's actions, Maya Gebala was shot three times at close range. One bullet hit her head, another struck her neck, and a third grazed her cheek. She suffered a severe brain injury that will cause permanent mental and physical disabilities.