Rebel 5T will not take photos.

[J_S93]

My father turned on his camera and was planning to take some photos, obviously. He was met with a message when he hit the shutter button “cannot take pictures in current mode.” We changed the mode, same response. The camera is not trying to autofocus and we even turn that off to no avail. 
His battery was also fully charged as well so we are really scratching our heads. 

Any suggestions are appreciated, thank you. 

[rs-eos]

Assuming this is the Rebel T5 camera?

If so, would recommend resetting all settings (page 190 in the User Manual has all the details).

In settings, go to the third yellow wrench menu (right-most).  There should be a "Clear settings" option there.   Select it, then select "Clear all camera settings" followed by choosing "OK".

It may be necessary to put the camera in a mode other than Auto in order to get this menu.  If so, try "Program" (P) mode.