Edelson PC, the law firm that filed seven lawsuits against OpenAI in April on behalf of victims and families connected to the Tumbler Ridge attack, is filing 30 new complaints this week. The new plaintiffs include teachers, a principal and students who were in the school building during the attack but were not physically shot. For the first time, the filings allege that OpenAI aided and abetted the mass attack, in addition to claiming that it acted negligently in failing to prevent it. The claim is said to require proof of OpenAI’s intent and could face motions for dismissal at an early stage.
The new lawsuits filed in California on Tuesday concern the February 10 shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Jesse Van Rootselaar first killed his mother and stepbrother at home, then went to the school, where he killed six more people and injured dozens; he later died by suicide.
According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI employees became concerned that Van Rootselaar was using ChatGPT in conversations that included advice on gun violence and planning an attack. Employees reportedly recommended notifying Canadian law enforcement, but executives decided not to contact the authorities. The company shut down the account, but Van Rootselaar was able to open a new one shortly afterward. OpenAI argued that the user’s activity did not meet the threshold of an “imminent and credible” risk of serious physical harm that would require contacting law enforcement.
New complaints allege that OpenAI’s Head of Global Affairs, Chris Lehane, told employees not to contact authorities. Lehane is not named as a defendant in the lawsuits; OpenAI denies that he was involved in the decision or the investigation team. The company’s Chief Strategy Officer, Jason Kwon, said the allegations were “categorically false.” Jay Edelson, the lead attorney in the lawsuits, said that Lehane and CEO Sam Altman, along with the safety team, would be “critical witnesses.”
The complaints also compare OpenAI’s claims of “proximity” and “privacy” with the security measures taken after an alleged threat targeting its San Francisco offices in November 2025. In that incident, the company closed its offices, warned employees, shared the suspect’s name and photograph, and notified the San Francisco Police Department.
Why it matters
The fact that the wave of lawsuits also includes school employees and students who were not physically struck shows that the attack’s legal impact is intended to extend beyond those directly injured. The allegation of aiding and abetting takes the case beyond a mere negligence dispute; however, the requirement to prove intent leaves the claim vulnerable to early-stage motions to dismiss. The failure to notify law enforcement despite employees’ concerns, and the ability to reopen the closed account, place at the center of the lawsuit how the company applied the threshold for serious harm and whether its security measures were adequate. The different approach taken in response to the threat targeting the San Francisco offices leaves open the question of whether claims of proximity and privacy were applied consistently, while conflicting accounts of executives’ roles in the decision-making process increase the importance of witness testimony.
Background
OpenAI is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: in the last 90 days, we have published 9 reports mentioning the name; the most recent was dated September 2, 2026.