U.S. and Canadian authorities say a 30-year-old Washington woman has been arrested for allegedly encouraging and helping to coordinate February’s mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
Law enforcement officials in Washington state and the B.C. RCMP said James Cody Bryant was arrested Tuesday morning in Bellingham, WA, on a charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country.
The Feb. 10 shooting at a home and secondary school in the small northeastern B.C. community left six children and two women dead.
RCMP have said the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, killed herself at the school.
U.S. and B.C. officials allege Bryant exchanged thousands of messages with Van Rootselaar ahead of the shooting and attempted to livestream the attack to help her gain more notoriety.
Officials noted Bryant is transgender and identifies as a woman, and RCMP have said Van Rootselaar was also a trans woman. Police have not indicated that gender identity was a motivating factor in the attack.
The FBI said the pair first met about three years ago through the now-defunct Omegle platform and later communicated extensively over several months leading up to the shooting, including through the online chat platform Discord.
Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office, said Bryant encouraged the planned violence, offered advice on how to carry out the attack and provided money to Van Rootselaar.
Authorities allege the pair frequently discussed acts of violence and previous mass shootings and shared a desire for notoriety.
A 41-page criminal complaint details some of their discussions on Discord, in which Van Rootselaar shared plans and preparations for the attack.
In one August 2025 exchange, the two discuss possible targets, including a mall, school or hotel.
Bryant allegedly tells her, “Hallways also mean a lot of ways people can escape. Corners to turn. Wide open spaces means numbers.”
The complaint said in other discussions, Bryant advised Van Rootselaar on what kind of weapons to use and encouraged her to wear an explosive vest during the shooting.
It alleges Bryant provided her with money to purchase shoes and other items for Van Rootselaar to wear during the attack, as well as a lighter that she planned to use to ignite an explosive device.
Investigators said there is no indication the firearms used in the attack came from the U.S.
Bryant allegedly talked about the need to conceal the plans, including deleting their messages and using a VPN for the livestream.
The complaint said Bryant helped Van Rootselaar test a livestream on multiple occasions in the months before the attack.
Officials alleged Bryant attempted to livestream the attack on the platform Twitch, staying awake after an overnight work shift to broadcast it, but the stream shut down within about 20 seconds.
“Without Bryant’s misplaced loyalty and willingness to operate the live stream, we don’t ultimately know if the shooter would have gone through with the crime,” said Herrington.
Officials allege Bryant messaged with Van Rootselaar moments after she had shot Jennifer Jacobs, 39 and Emmett Jacobs, 11, at their home, helping her start the vehicle that she used to drive to the school.
The victims of the shooting at the school include 13 year old Ezekiel Schofield, Abel Mwansa, Kylie Smith, Zoey Benoit, Ticaria Lampert, all age 12, and educator Shannda Aviugana-Durand, age 39.
Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said the charge against Bryant carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
The B.C. RCMP said the possibility of further criminal charges in Canada remains under consideration. Police are also investigating whether Van Rootselaar communicated with or was influenced by other people online.
B.C. RCMP Assistant Commissioner Elija Rain said some information about the investigation was withheld from the public in the months after the shooting to avoid compromising the cross-border investigation.
“To the families of the victims, the survivors and the community of Tumbler Ridge, our commitment to seeking answers has not wavered,” said Rain. “We recognize that the passage of time has not diminished the impact of this tragedy and we remain committed to supporting you throughout this process.”
The arrest comes amid separate scrutiny of Van Rootselaar’s use of artificial intelligence before the shooting.
Artificial intelligence company OpenAI has said Van Rootselaar’s ChatGPT account was flagged by employees months prior to the shooting, but company officials decided not to report her account to law enforcement. They instead banned her account, but she was able to create a second account to continue conversations with the chatbot.
A recent report by Mother Jones claims that ChatGPT helped the teen skirt OpenAI’s own safety rules, played out violent scenarios for her, and provided details about other infamous mass shootings.
The B.C. government has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in California to recover costs related to the shooting. Victims and families of those killed have also filed separate lawsuits in California seeking damages from the tech giant.
