Jake Tapper
Phoenix Eichner asked ChatGPT about the safety mechanism on a Remington 12 gauge shotgun on April 17th, 2025, and later that same day carried out a mass shooting at Florida State University.
Mostly TrueThe core factual assertion — that the FSU shooter queried ChatGPT about the Remington 12-gauge safety mechanism on April 17, 2025, and carried out a mass shooting at FSU that same day — is robustly confirmed by multiple independent sources drawing on court records and the ChatGPT logs obtained by the Leon County State Attorney's Office. Two identifiable inaccuracies prevent a TRUE verdict. First, the shooter is named 'Phoenix Eichner' in the broadcast; all authoritative sources, including CNN's own reporting, consistently identify him as Phoenix Ikner. This is a materially wrong surname for a named individual, not a minor imprecision. Second, the transcript states Ikner 'grabbed a rifle'; this is doubly inaccurate — the weapon Ikner initially deployed was a 12-gauge shotgun (which jammed without firing any shots), and the weapon with which he actually shot all victims was a .45 caliber handgun (his stepmother's former service weapon). While a witness described him as holding 'a rifle' in early breaking coverage, law enforcement's probable cause affidavit and police chief statements clarified that no one was shot with the shotgun and no rifle was used in the attack at all. Applying the MOSTLY TRUE boundary test (per Section 3.2: core assertion substantially correct with identifiable inaccuracies that do not reverse directional meaning), both errors are real but neither reverses the directional point — that the shooter consulted ChatGPT about weapon mechanics immediately before a mass shooting at FSU. The segment's core thesis remains substantiated. However, because the broadcast aired on April 24, 2026 — nearly a full year after the shooting and weeks after detailed investigative reporting had firmly established both the correct name and the weapon facts — these are not excusable breaking-news errors; they represent factual inaccuracies in a deliberate investigative segment. The verdict is MOSTLY TRUE with high confidence.