WARNING: Some of the details in this story are disturbing. Discretion is advised.
A person in western Washington State was allegedly in contact with the Tumbler Ridge School shooter for six months before the deadly shooting occurred in February, U.S. law enforcement officials said on Tuesday.
James Cody Bryant, 30, “had been in repeated contact with the shooter, offering advice, sending money and even agreeing to livestream the horrific event,” said Neal Floyd, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington.
“Bryant had the information and ability to alert law enforcement, and even discussed that possibility with the shooter, but he chose not to. Instead, he encouraged and offered assistance to a murderer.”
While referring to Bryant as male, Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle Field Office, said: “By my understanding, Bryant identifies as a female.”
Floyd alleged Bryant helped the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, start their car after they had already killed their mother and step-brother, so that Van Rootselaar could drive to Tumbler Ridge School and carry out the mass shooting.
“Today, Bryant is in custody charged with conspiracy to murder people in a foreign country,” Floyd said.
“That charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison.”
Previously, RCMP said Van Rootselaar was assigned male at birth but had started transitioning to a female.
In the court filings, it states that Bryant gave Van Rootselaar “tactical advice” on how to carry out the shooting, offering suggestions for target locations and what type of guns Van Rootselaar should use.
On Feb. 10, 18-year-old Van Rootselaar opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, killing five students and an educational assistant before taking their own life. At a nearby residence, Van Rootselaar’s mother and half-brother were found dead.
Herrington said no investigation or charge from the criminal justice system can ever undo the fear and suffering from what happened in the small community of Tumbler Ridge in February.
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“As alleged in the complaint, after the subject in this case met the shooter online, as their friendship developed over at least a six-month period, it began to focus on discussions of violence,” he said.
“I read a lot of court documents, including some that discuss incredibly heinous acts of violence, but this complaint was particularly difficult to read, in part because of the casual tone these two individuals used when discussing the mass taking of innocent lives that was being planned.”
He added that Bryant continued to enable Van Rootelsar in addition to providing money, technical advice and particular items to be used in the shooting.
“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.”
Bryant appeared in Seattle court at 2 p.m. PT.
Discussing the location of the attack
Bryant and Van Rootselaar had “numerous” online conversations relating to the planning and preparation for the attack, the court filings state.
“During some of these conversations, Bryant gave Van Rootselaar tactical advice regarding the carrying out of the attack, including that ‘wide open spaces’ are conducive to more casualties,” the documents read.
Van Rootselaar told Bryant about the deadliest school shooting in Canadian history, which was the 1989 massacre of 14 female students at École Polytechnique in Montreal.
Van Rootselaar then referenced the deadliest shooting in Canadian history, which was the Nova Scotia mass shootings on April 18 and 19, 2020, in which 22 people were killed.
“I’ve been thinking about either a mall or school,” Van Rootselaar said.
“A place like Walmart or Costco would have a lot of people too, but it’s wayyy too wide and open.”
Reaction pours in
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said it was “absolutely devastating” to see the allegations from the U.S. on Tuesday.
“What’s important is that we continue to support the community, support the families,” he said.
“We have been supporting the community all along with building a new school as well as direct support to those who are impacted. But we will continue to press law enforcement for action and this is one very important step in that direction.”
Bob Zimmer, Conservative MP for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, said the news about Bryant’s alleged involvement was “very troubling.”
“To me, it’s a sick individual, even though the person is still accused, that would even consider this,” he said.
Anandasangaree added that there is a “disturbing” trend with younger and younger people who are being radicalized, particularly online.
“It’s deeply disturbing,” he said.
“It’s a trend that we’re seeing, not just in Canada, but around the world. At the Five Eyes in August, we saw that materialize in other countries as well and increasingly the harm that I think social media in many cases has done to our young people cannot be undone and that’s why we have legislation that’s in the House right now that will address some of those issues.”
On Sept. 21, the B.C. government filed a lawsuit in California against OpenAI for what it alleges was its “failure to notify law enforcement of threats made on its platform prior to the mass shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School” in February.
OpenAI’s internal safety team had previously flagged Van Rootselaar as having concerning activity on ChatGPT, which included scenarios involving gun violence.
In early September, an additional 30 lawsuits were filed in California, which brings the total to 37 claims against OpenAI and founder Sam Altman related to the mass shooting.
The 30 new plaintiffs are educators, a principal and students, including a 13-year-old referred to as ‘A.C.,’ who was trapped in the library.
Evan Solomon, Canada’s minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation, said on Tuesday that they are working to make sure kids in Canada are protected.
“That’s why we’ve got Bill C-34, our Safe Social Media Act, which for the first time puts obligations on these companies that create chatbots to have their duty and obligation to protect kids, to take down dangerous information and to be transparent,” he said.
“We’re the only country in G7 that has that legislation tabled, but absolutely we have ongoing work. We’ve just finished an AI transparency consultation across the country, 21,000 Canadians and keeping Canadians safe in every aspect, in particular, relative to what’s happened, and this horrific tragedy in Tumbler Ridge, obviously, is our top concern.”
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