SEATTLE (AP) — Federal authorities said Tuesday they arrested and charged a 30-year-old Washington state man with encouraging an 18-year-old to commit one of the worst school shootings in Canadian history by offering to livestream the February attack, providing money and sharing tips on how to delete online posts to keep the plot secret.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said James Cody Bryant of Bellingham, Washington, contacted Jesse Van Rootselaar in British Columbia for at least six months before the shooting. Bryant, who identifies as a woman, did not report Van Rootselaar’s plans to authorities, authorities say.
W. Mike Herrington, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle office, said that without Bryant’s “misplaced loyalty” and willingness to broadcast the killings live, officials did not know whether Van Rootselaar would have carried out the attack.
“We certainly know that the shooter was concerned that few people would see the livestream without Bryant broadcasting it and that he was counting on Bryant to amplify the livestream because the shooter did not have many followers on social media,” Herrington added.
Authorities say Van Rootselaar first killed his mother and half-brother in their home before attacking a nearby school in the mountain community of Tumbler Ridgekilling five children aged 12 and 13 at the school as well as a teaching assistant. Twenty-five others were injured.
Van Rootselaar was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators accessed Van Rootselaar’s Twitch account and discovered that she had initiated a live video stream while sitting in her vehicle with a rifle and long gun in her lap. The livestream lasted about 20 seconds before it was disconnected and was only seen by one other account.
Bryant is accused of helping plan the attack
Bryant was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country — a “novel” charge for a case like this, Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said at a news conference.
Bryant made an initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon and is being held ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 20. The federal public defender’s office, which represents Bryant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While communicating on Discord with Van Rootselaar, Bryant gave tactical advice on how to carry out the murders to have the greatest impact, according to the complaint.
“Hallways also mean many ways for people to escape,” Bryant wrote, the complaint states. “Corners to turn. Wide open spaces mean numbers.”
Bryant also sent money to Van Rootselaar to buy a lighter that would be used to make an explosive device and advised Van Rootselaar on how to keep the plot secret by deleting online messages and using virtual private networks, officials said.
According to the criminal complaint, Bryant and Van Rootselaar met online about three years ago on Omegle, a video chat site closed since which connected users with random strangers. Their communications were sporadic during the first year as she was “institutionalized” after being deemed a danger to herself, the complaint states. She was locked up again after setting her room on fire. But they spoke daily in the six months before the attack, officials said.
“Van Rootselaar often spoke of her intention to use firearms to murder family members and others because she felt she had been mistreated,” the complaint states.
Van Rootselaar and Bryant both identified as trans, Herrington said. But authorities have no clue why they remained connected online, he said.
Bryant sometimes urged Van Rootselaar to reconsider his decision, officials say
Bryant tried to talk Van Rootselaar out of committing the attack at different times, authorities said.
“I really hope you reconsider your decision today,” Bryant told her in January, according to the complaint. “I wish there was another way for you, you shouldn’t have to do something like this.”
But ultimately, Bryant did not alert law enforcement and instead supported the shooting, authorities said.
When Van Rootselaar expressed concern that Bryant would “snitch” and alert authorities, Bryant repeatedly assured him that would not happen, officials said.
“I could,” Bryant wrote, according to the filing. “I don’t want to honestly. I know I can love, save lives, I guess, but I don’t know”, using the shorthand for “I don’t know”.
Canadian Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said in Ottawa that the allegations were devastating.
“Nothing will bring back the eight lives devastated in February, but it is important that those responsible are held to account,” he told reporters.
Anandasangaree said it was too early to say whether Bryant could also face charges in Canada, but added that prosecution in Canada would be possible if investigators determine Canadian laws were broken.
Bob Zimmer, the federal lawmaker who represents Tumbler Ridge, said victims deserve answers.
“Allegations that this individual coached the shooter through the process in an effort to livestream the event are deeply disturbing,” Zimmer said.
Tumbler Ridge in the Canadian Rockies is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia, near the provincial border with Alberta. The provincial government website says Tumbler Ridge Secondary School has 175 students in grades 7 to 12.
The families of the victims are sue an artificial intelligence company OpenAI in a US federal court, seeking to hold the creator of ChatGPT liable for failing to alert police to the shooter’s alarming interactions with the chatbot.
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The story and headline have been corrected to identify Bryant as a Washington resident. Authorities say Bryant identifies as a woman.
Associated Press reporter Rob Gillies contributed to this report from Toronto.
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