Family of FSU Shooting Victims to Sue ChatGPT

Ryan J. Farrick — April 6, 2026

Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Image via Wikimedia Commons/user:Aysmo. (CCA-BY-4.0). (source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_State_University_College_of_Medicine.jpg).

“We have been advised that the shooter was in constant communication with ChatGPT leading up to the shooting,” attorneys for the Morales family said. “We also have reason to believe that ChatGPT may have advised the shooter how to commit these heinous crimes.”

Attorneys for the family of a man killed in a mass shooting at Florida State University are planning to file a lawsuit against ChatGPT, claiming that the suspected gunman was in “constant communication” with the chatbot in the days preceding the attack.

According to WCTV, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of the family of Robert Morales, a Tallahassee resident who died after accused shooter Phoenix Ikner opened fire on Florida State campus last year.

Morales was one of two people who lost their lives in the attack; the other fatality, Tiru Chabba, was a business vendor and father who happened to have been on campus at the time of the attack.

Attorneys for the family indicated that they waited about one year to file suit, saying their clients needed more time to grieve before taking action.

“The Morales family has shown extraordinary strength in the face of unimaginable tragedy,” attorney Dean LeBeouf said in a 2025 statement. “We are honored to stand with them and are committed to pursuing justice for Robert and holding the appropriate parties accountable.”

In a statement to WCTV, attorneys Ryan Hobbs and Dean LeBeouf said they now “have reason to believe that ChatGPT may have advised the shooter how to commit these heinous crimes.”

Image of casing on ground. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Kristina Overton). Public domain.

“We have been advised that the shooter was in constant communication with ChatGPT leading up to the shooting,” Hobbs and LeBeouf said. “We also have reason to believe that ChatGPT may have advised the shooter how to commit these heinous crimes. We will therefore file suit against ChatGPT, and its ownership structure, very soon, and will seek to hold them accountable for the untimely and senseless death of our client, Mr. Morales.”

Morales, adds the Tallahassee Democrat, was 57 years old at the time of his death. He was a married father, a coach and cook, and “was known for having a heart for service and commitment to kindness, those who knew him said.”

WCTV notes that court documents list more than 270 artificial intelligence-generated photographs and conversations as evidence in the case.

Attorneys for the family have also sent letter to local law enforcement, who they believe should have prevented Ikner, the suspected shooter, from obtaining a firearm; it is unclear whether the Morales family has already filed claims against defendants other than ChatGPT. However, some Florida State University students say they remember Ikner as being an outspoken white supremacist who regularly shared objectionable opinions.

“He had an ideology that was based on white supremacy, misogyny, and things to that degree,” a Florida State student told WCTV in 2025. “There was a lot of conversations where he would call women [slurs]. He had called for the “glassing” of the entire Middle-East. He called L.A. protesters dirty rats.”

The Morales family is being represented by the law firm of Brooks, LeBeouf, Gwartney & Hobbs, P.A.