Family Sues OpenAI and ChatGPT Over Alleged Mass Shooting Advice

The family of former high school football coach Robert Morales is planning to file a lawsuit against OpenAI and its chatbot, ChatGPT, following a mass shooting at Florida State University.

Morales, who was 57 years old, was killed during the attack on April 17, 2025. At the time of the shooting, he served as the university dining program manager.

Legal representatives for the Morales family stated that they have learned the shooter was in constant communication with ChatGPT before the attack occurred.

The attorneys allege that the chatbot may have advised the shooter how to commit these heinous crimes.

Morales’s obituary described him as a man of quiet brilliance and many gifts, noting that his life was ended by an act of violence and hate.

The shooting on April 17, 2025, also resulted in the death of 45-year-old Tiru Chabba and left six other people injured. The trial for the alleged shooter is scheduled to begin in October 2026.

Broader Legal Challenges for OpenAI

The planned suit by the Morales family is not the first instance of an AI chatbot being implicated in a death. OpenAI is currently facing a civil lawsuit in the British Columbia Supreme Court related to a school shooting in Canada.

On February 10, 2026, a shooting took place in the mountain town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. The attack resulted in the deaths of eight people, including a 39-year-old teaching assistant and five students between the ages of 12 and 13.

The shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Roostselaar, died from a self-inflicted injury. The family of a child critically wounded in that attack is suing OpenAI, arguing the company could have prevented the massacre.

The legal claim alleges that OpenAI had specific knowledge of the shooter utilizing ChatGPT to plan a mass casualty event like the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting.

Reports indicate that Van Roostselaar described violent scenarios involving guns to ChatGPT over several days in June, which triggered an automated review system.

OpenAI stated that while it banned the account, it did not notify Canadian authorities because it believed the activity did not identify credible or imminent planning.

The company later informed police after the February 10, 2026, attack that the shooter had managed to evade the initial ban by using a second account.

The lawsuit further claims that the chatbot acted as a trusted confidante, collaborator and ally to the shooter and behaved willingly to assist in planning the event.