Bellingham man arrested for helping plan deadly British Columbia school shooting via Discord

Authorities arrested a Bellingham, Washington, man Tuesday morning on a federal charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country. The accusation holds that he spent roughly six months helping an 18-year-old Canadian plan and carry out the February school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia — an attack previously believed to have been carried out without outside assistance.

James Cody Bryant, 30, appeared in federal court in Seattle on Tuesday afternoon. October 20 has been set as the date for his next hearing. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to life in prison.

On February 10, 2026, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed two family members at her home, then drove to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School — a small school about 600 miles north of Vancouver, near the Alberta border — where she shot and killed five children and an educational assistant, used an improvised explosive device to damage the building, and fired through locked classroom doors. Twenty-seven others were injured. After exchanging gunfire with police, Van Rootselaar died by suicide. The attack stands as Canada's deadliest school shooting in decades.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, Bryant and Van Rootselaar first met on the video chatting website Omegle three years before the shooting. They began discussing her plan to carry out a mass shooting around August 2025, communicating primarily through the platform Discord. An affidavit filed in court includes excerpts of those chat logs.

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.— W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Seattle

According to prosecutors, Bryant's alleged assistance took several forms over those six months. Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said Bryant sent Van Rootselaar just over $100, used mainly to purchase a lighter and a pair of shoes she intended to wear during the attack. He advised her on keeping the plot secret by deleting messages and using Virtual Private Networks. He repeatedly assured her he would not turn her in. He agreed to livestream the attack on Twitch. And moments before the shooting began, investigators say he confirmed he was receiving the stream.

Sending weapons to Van Rootselaar was something the two discussed, though Bryant declined to do so, the court complaint states. Prosecutors also note that Bryant attempted at various points to talk her out of the attack — but never contacted law enforcement.

The most direct moment of alleged intervention came after Van Rootselaar had already killed two family members at home. Her car would not start. Bryant, according to prosecutors, gave her advice on how to get the engine to turn over — allowing her to drive to the school.

Even after Van Rootselaar had killed two family members, there was time to intervene before the school shooting. Van Rootselaar could not get the family car started to head to school. Bryant gave advice about how to get the engine to turn over, allowing the shooter to put the school shooting plan in motion.— U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington

The Tumbler Ridge Secondary School shooting was a horrific tragedy for that small community and for all of Canada. Indeed, here in the Pacific Northwest we felt the pain of those families devastated by this violence. It is even more profoundly disturbing to learn that a resident of Western Washington had a role in the attack and took steps — providing counsel, technical advice, and money to the shooter planning such a tragedy.— Neil Floyd, Acting U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington

Canadian authorities contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security soon after the February shooting, according to Assistant Commissioner Elija Rain of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, based on information from one of the online platforms used by the shooter. Investigators from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the RCMP worked together on the case.

We remain mindful that no investigative milestone can undo the harm caused that day, but we hope it reflects our ongoing commitment to seeking answers and pursuing all available evidence.— Assistant Commissioner Elija Rain, Acting Commanding Officer, BC RCMP

The arrest is not the only legal proceeding stemming from the Tumbler Ridge attack. In April, seven families of victims filed suit against tech company OpenAI after it came to light that Van Rootselaar had used ChatGPT to plan the attack. According to CNN, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, in the week before that suit was filed, offered an apology to the community for the company's failure to alert law enforcement after Van Rootselaar's account was banned.

Bryant's lawyer has not yet responded to a request for comment from CNN. The case remains under active investigation.

Why it matters — The arrest reveals that a mass casualty attack previously understood as a lone-actor event had an alleged American co-conspirator who had multiple opportunities to alert authorities and chose not to — raising urgent questions about cross-border online radicalization and legal accountability for those who enable but do not carry out violence.

Reported by reuters.com, fox13seattle.com, cnn.com