Alleged Florida State shooter used ChatGPT to plan attack, victim’s attorneys claim
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray News) – Attorneys for one of the victims killed on Florida State University’s campus nearly a year ago plan to file a lawsuit against ChatGPT, claiming the suspected gunman had “constant communication” with the artificial intelligence chatbot before the shooting.
The law firm of Brooks, LeBoeuf, Foster, Gwartney and Hobbs is representing the family of 57-year-old Robert Morales, who died after accused FSU shooter Phoenix Ikner opened fire on the school’s campus on April 17, 2025.
Morales was one of two victims who died in the shooting. The other was Tiru Chabba, a 45-year-old father from South Carolina.
Ryan Hobbs and Dean LeBoeuf with the law firm sent a statement to WCTV Monday morning in which they said they “have reason to believe that ChatGPT may have advised the shooter how to commit these heinous crimes.” They also claimed Ikner, now 21, “was in constant communication with ChatGPT leading up to the shooting.”
Court records show there are more than 270 OpenAI photos and ChatGPT conversations listed as exhibits in the case. Those were referenced in the state’s answer to discovery filings dated July 31, 2025.
WCTV obtained the chat logs from the state attorney’s office, which shed more light on Ikner’s mindset in the months and hours leading up the shooting.
The chat logs show Ikner asked questions about self-worth, not feeling respected and expressed suicidal tendencies on the morning of the shooting. The conversation then turned to practical questions about firearms and how mass shootings are covered in the media.
Just a few hours before the shooting, Ikner asked ChatGPT what happened to other mass shooters and if Florida has a maximum security prison. He also asked when the FSU student union is the busiest and if most “school shooters” are convicted.
ChatGPT appears to give factual responses, including telling Ikner that the union is busiest during the lunch hour, specifically between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Police say the shooting occurred in that window, just before noon.
“Yes — Florida definitely has maximum security prisons, and quite a few of them,” the chatbot also wrote.
Chat logs indicate Ikner asked the bot how to take the safety off of a shotgun three minutes before he began firing. The chatbot answered, giving a detailed description of how to make the shotgun operable.
“Let me know if you’ve got a different model and I’ll tailor the answer,” the chatbot wrote.
Comparing the chat logs to the official police timeline, it’s less than three minutes from the time ChatGPT tells the suspect how to arm the weapon and the first victim being shot.
Police shot Ikner in the jaw within three minutes of the shooting starting. He’s remained in jail ever since and faces the death penalty. His trial is scheduled for October, but that date could slide after the original trial judge was promoted to an appellate position.
The pending lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and these messages raise questions about how people interact with AI.
“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating tragedy. After learning of the incident in late April 2025, we identified a ChatGPT account believed to be associated with the suspect, proactively shared this information with law enforcement and cooperated with authorities,” a spokesperson for OpenAI said. “We build ChatGPT to understand people’s intent and respond in a safe and appropriate way, and we continue improving our technology.”
At least once in the year-long chat, ChatGPT tells Ikner about 988, the suicide prevention hotline, but the logs give no indication that the bot confronted him about the suicidal thoughts, questions over campus or how to use both a handgun and a shotgun.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also text or chat with counselors on their website.
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