Florida Woman Faces Up to 15 Years After Anthropic Reported Her Claude Chat as a Mass-Shooting Threat

Carli Michelle Heller, 30, of Bonita Springs, faces a felony charge after investigators alleged that she threatened to attack the Lee County Sheriff's Office in messages sent through Claude, Anthropic's AI chatbot. The charge carries a maximum prison term of 15 years if she is convicted.

According to the arrest report cited by WINK News, Anthropic's safety systems flagged the messages and escalated them to a human review team, which contacted law enforcement. Deputies identified Heller and detained her at home without incident. She has not been convicted.

Heller Allegedly Threatened Lee County Sheriff's Office

WINK reported Heller's arrest on 30 September. According to the arrest report cited by the broadcaster, a user identified as Carli threatened on 26 September to 'shoot up' the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators said another message the following day claimed that she had obtained a new gun. The reported statement does not establish that a firearm was purchased or recovered, and WINK's account did not say whether deputies verified that claim.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno told WINK that Heller later said she used the chatbot as a diary. That explanation was reported by the sheriff; it does not resolve whether the messages meet the legal requirements for the offence.

The allegations remain subject to criminal proceedings. The arrest report sets out investigators' account rather than a judicial finding about Heller's intentions or conduct.

Felony Charge Carries Maximum 15-Year Term

Heller was charged under Florida Statute 836.10, which addresses certain written or electronic threats to kill, cause bodily harm, conduct a mass shooting or commit an act of terrorism.

The statute classifies the offence as a second-degree felony. Florida law provides a maximum prison term of 15 years for that category of felony, but the maximum is not an automatic sentence.

The law covers an electronic record transmitted in a manner that may be viewed by another person. Whether prosecutors can establish the elements of the offence in Heller's case remains a matter for the courts.

WINK reported a November court date. The precise hearing date and type should be checked against the current court docket rather than treated as settled by initial reporting.

Heller's booking paperwork listed a bond of $10,000 (£7,500). The record does not establish whether she subsequently posted bond or was released.

Anthropic Policy Allows Emergency Disclosures

Anthropic's published government-request policy says it generally requires valid legal process before disclosing user information in response to requests from authorities.

The policy allows an exception when the company believes an emergency may result in imminent physical harm or death and that providing information without delay could avert it.

That policy describes the company's general approach. It does not establish the precise basis for the referral in Heller's case or identify which account details were disclosed to investigators.

The reported sequence involved automated detection, human review and contact with law enforcement. The chatbot did not independently contact the police.

Other Claude Threat Reports Reached Authorities

In San Antonio, Nathaniel Michael Carrasco, 22, was arrested on 29 August and charged with making a terroristic threat, according to local reporting.

An affidavit alleged that Carrasco used Claude on 11 August to threaten children at Serna Elementary School. The FBI's National Threat Operations Section alerted San Antonio police on 28 August. The reports described allegations against Carrasco, not a conviction.

In a separate case, 'The San Francisco Standard' reported that a user wrote to Claude on 14 August claiming to have an AR-15 and threatening Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei and company employees.

Anthropic referred the matter to San Francisco police and banned the account, according to the newspaper. The user later characterised the messages as joking. The report did not announce an arrest or charges.

The cases involved different alleged threats and reporting routes. Heller's case remains a separate prosecution in which the allegations have yet to be proven.