Merve Gül Aydoğan Ağlarcı
11 March 2026•Update: 11 March 2026
HAMILTON, Canada
The family of a 12-year-old girl wounded in a deadly Canadian school shooting has filed a lawsuit against artificial intelligence firm OpenAI, according to media reports.
Cia Edmonds filed the case in British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court on behalf of herself and her two daughters, said a report Monday by the Globe and Mail newspaper.
It said her daughter, Maya, sustained three gunshot wounds, including one above her left eye, leaving her with permanent brain damage and physical disabilities.
In late February, Canada’s artificial intelligence minister called OpenAI representatives to Ottawa after learning that the teen behind the Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, mass shooting was banned from ChatGPT months before the attack.
Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon said the company barred Jesse Van Rootselaar's account in June after it was flagged for troubling content, but did not alert police because it did not find any credible or imminent threats at the time, according to CBC News.
Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother on Feb. 10 before going to a local secondary school, where she shot dead five students and an educational assistant, then killed herself, said authorities.
"Possessing vast amounts of harmful information and the technical ability to distil it, ChatGPT equipped the shooter with information, guidance and assistance to plan a mass casualty event," said the lawsuit, according to a CTV News report.
The claim said OpenAI was aware that the shooter had exchanged disturbing, violence-laden messages with its ChatGPT chatbot months before the deadly attack but chose not to alert law enforcement.
OpenAI has since said changes to its systems would now flag such interactions for police.
The allegations have not yet been tested in court.
