Tumbler Ridge MP backs mother’s lawsuit against OpenAI, blaming it for shooting role

The member of Parliament for Tumbler Ridge, B.C., said he supports a lawsuit against artificial intelligence firm OpenAI by the mother of a girl critically wounded in the mass shooting in the community last month.

Cia Edmonds, whose 12-year-old daughter Maya Gebala has severe brain injuries after being shot three times, filed the lawsuit Monday and MP Bob Zimmer said that the legal action was “justified” based on his reading of recent news coverage. 

The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot provided “information, guidance and assistance” to carry out such an attack, and Zimmer said it was “very troubling” if that was the case.

“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 on Wednesday in Ottawa. 

Jesse van Rootselaar shot dead eight people before killing herself on Feb. 10. 

OpenAI has not responded to the lawsuit but has previously said Van Rootselaar was banned from ChatGPT last June over problematic interactions, although it did not inform law enforcement at the time. 

It also said Van Rootselaar got around the ban by having a second ChatGPT account.

Tuesday was the one-month anniversary of the attack, and it was marked by social media posts from victims’ relatives, including Gebala’s father, David Gebala, who has been keeping vigil by her hospital bedside.

“The days have blurred together so much that I’m not even sure where the time goes. I live in a constant state of limbo sitting beside Maya in the hospital until it’s dark, watching the nurses and doctors care for her until I eventually fall asleep,” he said on Facebook.

He said his mind “drifts to the other children who were there.”

“I think about how scared they must have been, the screaming, the crying. Even though I wasn’t there, those thoughts haunt me every single day.”

Premier David Eby said last week that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had agreed to a public apology about his company’s role in the shooting, but Zimmer said that was not enough.

Attorney General Niki Sharma said on Tuesday that Altman had agreed to work with government and the mayor of Tumbler Ridge on an apology that is “sensitive and appropriate” to the victims, but could not say when it would happen.

“So, at this stage, I’m hopeful that they will be working together to get that right,” Sharma said. 

Eby has previously said it looks like OpenAI could have prevented the shooting, but Sharma said it was too early to say if the government would join the lawsuit or launch a separate one. 

The provincial government this month announced a coroner’s inquest into the shooting, and RCMP continue to investigate. 

“There are many different ways that we can get to the truth,” Sharma said, pointing to the inquest and police investigation. “Then, we will see if there is a further need for any public inquiry,” she added.

On Wednesday, Zimmer repeated his earlier call for a federal inquiry, adding that it needs “to look at everything.”

The provincial representative for Tumbler Ridge also used the one-month occasion to repeat his party’s call for a public inquiry.

B.C. Conservative Larry Neufeld, MLA for Peace-River South, said in an interview that he agrees with the family taking legal action. 

“I would support it, if brings solace to the family,” he said. “This is about the victims, it’s about the community.” 

The law firm representing Edmonds declined to comment on Zimmer’s support for the lawsuit.

“We have no further comment beyond our press release at this time,” the firm said in a statement.

A news release said the lawsuit’s purpose is to “learn the whole truth about how and why” the shooting happened, and to “impose accountability, to seek redress for harms and losses, and to help prevent another mass shooting atrocity in Canada.”

— With files by Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2026.