Federal prosecutors have charged a Bellingham man with helping another person commit murder in a foreign country - alleging he coached an 18-year-old who killed eight people in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, in February and agreed to livestream the attack.
James Cody Bryant, 30, was arrested Tuesday, officials said at the federal courthouse in Seattle. The charge carries a possible life sentence, KUOW reported. Bryant is accused, not convicted. A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 20.
NEWS RELEASE from @FBISeattle: Bellingham resident charged with conspiring to commit murder in connection with school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
Read more on how this #FBI is pursuing justice for victims of violence. justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/…
— FBI (@FBI) October 7, 2026
On February 10, Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, killed his mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at home, then five students and a school staff member at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, before dying by suicide. Canadian officials said police had been to the home several times over mental health concerns. RCMP assistant commissioner Elija Rain said Canadian authorities contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security soon after, based on information from a platform the attacker had used.
Bryant and Van Rootselaar communicated on Discord, officials said, and Discord contacted law enforcement after the shooting. FBI Seattle special agent in charge Mike Herrington said the two discussed the attack in detail. Bryant allegedly sent money through PayPal so Van Rootselaar could buy shoes to wear that day and a lighter to ignite an explosive device.
"In addition to providing money, technical advice, and particular items to be used in the shooting, Bryant agreed to record a livestream feed of the attack and broadcast it in a way that would maximize notoriety for the shooter," Herrington said. Other messages suggest Bryant advised Van Rootselaar when the car would not start on the way to the school, after the killings at home, he added. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said the planned broadcast was on Twitch. Officials said the feed shut down after about 20 seconds.
Charging documents show an exchange in which Van Rootselaar said, "I really hope you wouldn't ever snitch." Bryant replied, "I don't want to honestly. I know I can like, save lives I guess but idk." The government's press release also said there were conversations in which Bryant "tried to talk Van Rootselaar out of doing the attack." Officials said Bryant never contacted law enforcement, and agreed to handle the livestream just minutes before the attack.
United States v. James Cody Bryant complaint document is now public. Contains more information re the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting than 🇨🇦 has released from the start.
— Eric Schild (@EricSchild2) October 7, 2026
Officials said the two met about three years ago on Omegle, a now-defunct video chat service that randomly matched strangers, and that there is no indication they ever met in person or had ties to any other group. Both were born male and identified as female, officials said. The criminal complaint uses female pronouns for Van Rootselaar and no gendered pronouns for Bryant.
Herrington said distance does not shield a defendant. "If you think you are safe from prosecution because you did not pull the trigger or were not physically present at the scene of the crime, think again," he said. The Canadian investigation remains active, but Floyd said the case is being brought in the United States for now. "All the activity involved in this was committed here in the state of Washington," Floyd said.
Separately, victims' families and British Columbia, which sued in September, have taken OpenAI to court over Van Rootselaar's use of ChatGPT. The province's suit says the company flagged the chats but did not report them to police. Mother Jones reports ChatGPT helped the attacker get around its safeguards by framing questions as fictional or hypothetical.
DOJ release: Bellingham resident charged with conspiring to commit murder in connection with school shooting.