A 30-year-old Washington state resident, James Cody Bryant, has been arrested and charged in connection with February’s Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, school shooting, the US Department of Justice said. Prosecutors charged him with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country. Officials said he faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Charge and alleged role
According to the DOJ and FBI Seattle, Bryant was in repeated contact with the 18-year-old shooter, Jessie Van Rootselaar, before the attack—allegedly offering advice, sending money, and agreeing to record and broadcast a livestream of the violence. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Seattle, said Bryant provided technical guidance, funds, and items for the attack and agreed to livestream it to “maximise notoriety for the shooter.”
Herrington said the livestream was online for about 20 seconds and viewed by one account, citing court documents. He added: “Without Bryant’s misplaced loyalty and willingness to operate the livestream, we don’t ultimately know if the shooter would have gone through with the crime,” alleging Bryant knew when the attack began.
Acting US Attorney Neil Floyd said Bryant “had the information and ability to alert law enforcement, and even discussed that possibility with the suspect, but chose not to.”
What investigators say the messages show
Federal authorities said a 41-page complaint includes photos and text messages to and from Van Rootselaar. Investigators said the two first met online three years ago, lost touch twice while the shooter was admitted to a mental health facility, and then communicated daily on Discord in the six months before the attack. They discussed, among other things, sending 3D-printed weapons across the US–Canada border, officials said.
Court documents reviewed by authorities appeared to show Bryant initially floated a shopping center as a target instead of a school. Investigators also said that at points Bryant told the shooter to delay or not commit the attack, but ultimately said he would not “snitch” to police.
The attack and victims
Authorities said the February shooting unfolded at Van Rootselaar’s home and at a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, a town of roughly 2,300 residents. Eight people were killed, including six children, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history, according to officials. Police said the victims included the shooter’s mother, his 11-year-old stepbrother, five young children, and a school educator. Van Rootselaar died of a self-inflicted gunshot during the attack, authorities said.
Police said the shooter was previously known to them due to a history of mental-health-related visits to the family home.
Lawsuits after the shooting
Several lawsuits have been filed since the attack. After it was revealed that the shooter had consulted ChatGPT prior to the killings, the province of British Columbia and some victims’ families sued OpenAI for allegedly failing to notify authorities about those interactions. In April, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman issued an open letter to the families stating, “I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement.”
