Accused FSU Gunman Used ChatGPT To Plan Shooting That Killed 2: Report

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The 21-year-old man accused of opening fire on the Florida State University campus last spring, killing two people, planned the shooting using ChatGPT, according to a report citing the attorneys for one of the victims.

Phoenix Ikner, a student at FSU and son of a Leon County Sheriff's Office deputy, opened fire around noon near the school's Student Union building on April 17, killing 45-year-old Tiru Chabba and FSU worker Robert Morales, Tallahassee police said. Six people were also injured in the deadly shooting.

Nearly a year after the shooting, the law firm of Brooks, LeBoeuf, Foster, Gwartney and Hobbs, which is representing the family of 57-year-old Morales, plans to file a lawsuit against ChatGPT, claiming Ikner had “constant communication” with the artificial intelligence chatbot before the shooting and may have advised him to commit the crime, WCTV reported.

Court records obtained by WCTV showed more than 270 OpenAI photos and ChatGPT conversations listed as exhibits in the case. According to records, Ikner allegedly used ChatGPT to ask questions about firearms and how mass shootings are covered in the media.

Chat logs also showed Ikner asked the bot how to take the safety off of a shotgun three minutes before he began firing, WCTV reported.

During the violent tragedy, Ikner was shot by an FSU officer, according to previous reports.

Ikner, who changed his name from Christian Gunnar Eriksen at 15 years old, was obsessed with Adolph Hitler and the Nazis, reports said. The Lincoln High School graduate had been a member of the 2021-22 Leon County Sheriff's Office Youth Advisory Council and had practiced shooting with his law-enforcement stepmother, according to authorities.

Ikner faces two counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of attempted murder related to the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty.

The case is scheduled to go to trial in October, where prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

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