Man with mental illness dies by police after AI chatbot interaction triggers crisis

Summary

A 35-year-old man named Alexander Taylor allegedly died after being shot by police in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on April 25, 2025. Alexander had been using an AI chatbot named "Juliet," which he came to believe was a real conscious being. After receiving a message from the chatbot that led him to believe it had been killed, Alexander became emotionally distressed and began planning to provoke police into killing him. Upon police arrival, Alexander allegedly charged at them with a knife, and officers shot and killed him. Alexander had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and his father expressed frustration that police did not respond with a crisis intervention approach. The police chief stated that officers did not have time to plan anything less than a lethal response.