Tumbler Ridge MP Backs Mother’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI Over Mass Shooter’s Use of Platform

Conservative MP for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, Bob Zimmer speaks as he makes his way to caucus in Ottawa, on May 1, 2024. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

The MP for Tumbler Ridge has expressed support for a lawsuit filed against American artificial intelligence firm OpenAI by the mother of a girl critically injured the Feb. 10 mass shooting in the B.C. town.

Cia Edmonds, the mother of critically injured Grade 7 student Maya Gebala, is suing OpenAI, alleging the tech company was “aware of the shooter’s violent intentions,” but failed to alert authorities, according to the lawsuit filed March 9 in B.C. Supreme Court.

MP Bob Zimmer described the legal action as “justified” during a press scrum this week.

The legal action claims that OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot supplied “information, guidance and assistance” to carry out the mass shooting—an allegation Zimmer described as “very troubling.”

“Here’s a piece of software, essentially advising somebody how to go through with this, and I think they need to answer for that,” Zimmer told reporters.

Shooter Jesse van Rootselaar opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary last month, killing eight and injuring 27 before killing himself. The 18-year-old also killed his mother and 11-year-old half brother earlier that day.

Maya was shot in the head and neck during the incident and remains in hospital in Vancouver. The lawsuit says she suffered a “catastrophic, traumatic brain injury” with “permanent cognitive and physical disability” and “scarring and physical deformities” as a result of her injuries.

It alleges the shooter relied on ChatGPT for mental health support and counselling and treated the chatbot as a “mental health counsellor, advisor and/or pseudo-therapist” as well as a “trusted confidante, collaborator, ally, and friend.”

OpenAI has yet to respond to the lawsuit but previously said Van Rootselaar was banned from ChatGPT last June because of disturbing content.

OpenAI said it did not contact the RCMP until after the shooting because the company did not think the account indicated a “credible” or “imminent” threat. The firm also said the shooter circumvented the ban and opened a second account.

B.C. Premier David Eby said last week that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had agreed to release a public apology about his company’s part in the shooting.

Eby argued the company could have prevented the shooting, but Attorney General Niki Sharma said it was too early to say if the government would join the lawsuit announced by Edmonds or launch a separate one.

Even if OpenAI apologizes, Zimmer says that wouldn’t be enough.

Zimmer, along with Conservative caucus colleague Frank Caputo, held a press conference on March 1 to call for an independent public inquiry into the mass shooting.

Zimmer and Caputo said in a statement posted to social media that an investigation should be conducted under the Inquiries Act by an independent commission. The commission would have the power to subpoena witnesses, take evidence under oath, request documents, and present findings and recommendations free of any interference, they said.

The provincial government has already announced a coroner’s inquest into the shooting, and the RCMP continues to investigate. Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters last month that the federal government would “fully explore” all possible measures to prevent future tragedies like the Tumbler Ridge shooting, but did not say if it planned to launch its own inquiry.

Impact on Family

The claim against OpenAI names Edmonds and her daughters Maya and Dahlia Gebala as the plaintiffs.

Aside from Maya’s physical injuries, the claim says she, her younger sister Dahlia, and their mother now suffer from depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the shooting. Both Dahlia and Edmonds are also dealing with sleep disturbances, it says.

Edmonds has kept the public up-to-date on Maya’s progress via social media since the shooting occurred. Edmonds said in a March 6 Facebook post that her daughter’s breathing tube has been removed “to see if she can breathe on her own.”

Maya’s father, David Gebala, marked the one-month anniversary of the attack earlier this week with a social media post, saying he continues to maintain a vigil by his daughter’s hospital bedside.

“The days have blurred together so much that I’m not even sure where the time goes,” he said on Facebook, adding that he constantly thinks about the children who were in the school during the shooting and how scared they must have been. Gebala said the thoughts “haunt” him every single day.

“When I look at Maya, I know she’s still in there, and we just keep hoping for the best version of her,” he added. “It’s a day by day battle. I try to stay strong for everyone around me, but the truth is the weight of it all is crushing.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.