The legal siege over the Tumbler Ridge school shooting is widening again. Edelson PC filed 30 fresh complaints in California court this week, joining seven lawsuits it brought against OpenAI in April. New plaintiffs include teachers, a principal, and students who were inside the school during the February 10 attack but were not shot.
The legal theory just got bolder. Earlier complaints described negligence, arguing OpenAI should have stopped the massacre. This wave levels an aiding and abetting accusation, which requires intent to be shown and invites early dismissal attempts.
What happened that February day is not in dispute. Teenager Jesse Van Rootselaar took her mother’s life and her half-brother’s at their home. She then attacked Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, killing six more people before turning the gun on herself. Internal unease over her ChatGPT use had surfaced beforehand, per The Wall Street Journal. Staff who reviewed chats about planning violence wanted Canadian authorities contacted, but executives chose to disable her account, and a fresh one appeared within days.
OpenAI says the activity never met its bar for an imminent and credible threat. The complaints target Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane, alleging he controls the team that tracks users who may commit real-world violence and that he ordered staff to stand down. OpenAI denies Lehane was involved. He is not named as a defendant, though CEO Sam Altman is.
Lead attorney Jay Edelson calls Lehane and Altman critical witnesses. The filings contrast the case with a November 2025 lockdown of OpenAI’s offices, when the company called police over a suspected threat without citing privacy barriers.
