OpenAI Faces 30 New Lawsuits Over Alleged Failure to Alert Police Before Tumbler Ridge Shooting

OpenAI is facing 30 new federal lawsuits from students, teachers and a principal connected to the February shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The complaints allege that OpenAI failed to alert Canadian authorities after ChatGPT activity was flagged as a potential real-world gun-violence threat. They bring the total number of related cases to 37.

The new complaints name OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman. They accuse the company of negligence, aiding and abetting the mass shooting, and product liability, and allege that ChatGPT induced the shooter to carry out the attack. Those are plaintiffs’ allegations, not findings of fact.

From a flagged account to an alleged missed referral

The alleged mechanism begins with detection. OpenAI’s automated systems reportedly flagged the alleged shooter’s ChatGPT account in June 2025 for gun-violence activity and planning. The complaints say the company’s Intelligence and Investigations team later concluded the conversations posed a credible threat of gun violence against real people and recommended notifying the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

OpenAI says activity must meet its internal standard of an imminent and credible risk of serious physical harm before it engages law enforcement. It says it deactivated the flagged account, but the alleged shooter created another account; OpenAI says it did not learn of that second account until after the shooting.

A disputed chain of authority

The fresh filings make a more specific allegation about who made the call. They say OpenAI’s global affairs team, led by Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane, overruled the recommendation to contact law enforcement and that Altman ratified the decision. Lehane is not named as a defendant, though Altman is.

Limits on the claims so far

• The assertion that Lehane directed staff not to contact authorities is pleaded on information and belief. Plaintiffs have not publicly produced direct evidence of his personal involvement.
• OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon denies that Lehane participated in the referral decision, that investigators report to him, or that political or public-relations considerations shaped safety decisions.
• TechCrunch assessed the aiding-and-abetting claim as requiring proof of intent by OpenAI and likely to face early dismissal challenges.

An apology and a separate public review

Altman previously apologized to the Tumbler Ridge community for OpenAI not notifying Canadian police about information regarding the shooter’s potential threat. The apology does not determine whether OpenAI is legally liable, but it places the reporting decision at the center of the cases.

British Columbia’s chief coroner has also directed an inquest into the deaths. It will publicly examine the circumstances, assess systemic and procedural issues, and make evidence-based recommendations; its timing will be announced after the investigative phase concludes.