Today, a cross-border team comprised of RPLE lawyers John Rice KC and Mallory Hogan and the formidable lawyers of US law firm Edelson PC have brought cases for the victims of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting in California federal court against OpenAI. In June 2025, about eight months before the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting, OpenAI, a company headquartered and doing business in San Francisco, California with a valuation approaching $1 trillion USD, flagged and banned the perpetrator’s ChatGPT account for “disturbing content” which allegedly included the discussion and planning of violent scenarios. However, despite some 12 different OpenAI employees imploring the company to notify Canadian law enforcement about the perpetrator’s plans, nothing else was done.

Our clients, represented in the US by Jay Edelson and his team, are courageously seeking accountability and actual change in the same jurisdiction OpenAI calls home – the Northern District of California.  Ultimately, their goal, and our goal with them, is to make sure that there will be never again be an AI-predicted and facilitated mass shooting. 

Says John Rice:

All Canadians are sickened and horrified by the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. We cherish our schools as places of safety, learning, sports, nurturing and friendship. Based on what we understand the perpetrator to have discussed with ChatGPT, this murderous rampage was specific, predictable, and preventable – and OpenAI had the chance to stop it. What the families of those murdered have lost and what these kids and teachers witnessed is unacceptable. It is the type of point-blank gun murder rarely seen anywhere, even in a theatre of war. Nothing will ever restore what these families have lost but they have together come as a community from a small, humble, hardworking mining town in the Canadian north to stand up to OpenAI.

We honour the memories of those lost in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting, and we will fight to the very end to get justice for all our clients.

Recent media coverage has brought increased attention to this case. For broader context and in-depth reporting, you can explore coverage from Global News, the Vancouver Sun, CNN, BBC, CBC, NPR, Mother Jones, The Guardian, Financial Post, Bloomberg, AP News, The Washington Post, Ars Technica, and the Times Colonist at the links below.

• Global News
• Vancouver City News
• CNN
• BBC
• CBC
• NPR
• Mother Jones
• The Guardian
• Financial Post
• Bloomberg
• AP News
• The Washington Post
• Ars Technica
• Times Colonist

To read the full statement of our client Cia Edmonds, mother to brave Maya Gebala (12) who was shot in the head during the rampage and continues to fight for her life, see here.