Story summary
On February 10, 2026, a deadly school shooting occurred at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia, Canada, leaving six students, one teacher, and three family members dead. The perpetrator, Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old who had been transitioning from male to female, opened fire before taking their own life.
In a surprising twist, on February 28, 30-year-old James Cody Bryant of Bellingham, Washington, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country. Prosecutors allege that Bryant offered technical advice, money, and assistance in livestreaming the attack via Discord over several months leading up to the shooting.
Bryant's alleged involvement highlights concerns about online conspiracies facilitating such tragedies, drawing attention to potential regulatory gaps around digital platforms used for malicious planning. The case also brings scrutiny on AI tools like ChatGPT, which flagged communications from Van Rootselaar but did not alert authorities beforehand due to company policies.
A press conference by the U.S. Department of Justice is set to provide further details about the charges and Bryant's alleged role in facilitating the deadly attack.
Written for “Tumbler Ridge School Shooting Suspect…” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 14 other(s) covering the same event.
A U.S. investigation has released detailed text exchanges alleging that the Tumbler Ridge school shooting was plotted by two trans-identifying males who took pains to decorate the murder weapons with transgender iconography and even select a “cute” outfit for the massacre.
asserted
who → release → massacre
In one exchange, killer Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old male who identified as female, worried that a video livestream of the massacre might reveal his “ugly” voice.
uncertain
livestream → identify → voice
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To which his accused co-plotter said not to worry, and that it would only show a “pretty girl gunning (people) down.
asserted
it → accuse → people
On Feb. 10, 2026, Van Rootselaar murdered eight people, including six children, before committing suicide in a mass shooting that predominantly targeted Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
asserted
that → murder → School
On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that Bellingham, Wash., resident James Cody Bryant, 30, had been arrested and charged in connection with helping to plan, encourage and finance the attack.
asserted
Bryant → announce → attack
At the core of a 41-page criminal complaint filed Tuesday were several months of messages shared between Bryant and Van Rootselaar on the instant messaging service Discord.
asserted
months → file → service
Discord volunteered the information to the RCMP in the immediate wake of the massacre, and the Mounties shared it with FBI investigators.
asserted
Mounties → volunteer → investigators
The text exchanges reveal that Tumbler Ridge Secondary was predominantly targeted because the pair believed it afforded the best likelihood of murdering as many people as possible before law enforcement would be able to intervene.
asserted
enforcement → reveal → people
“A place like Walmart or Costco would have a lot of people too, but it’s wayyy too wide and open.
asserted
it → ’ → people
Plus I don’t wanna die in a shitty Walmart I’d rather a mall because at least that’s a nice place to buy things lol,” wrote Van Rootselaar in one text from Aug. 8, more than six months before the attack.
asserted
Rootselaar → wanna → attack
The messages represent the first publicly available documents showing that Van Rootselaar committed the massacre using firearms taken from a family gun safe.
asserted
Rootselaar → represent → safe
The criminal complaint cites testimony from Bryant in stating that Van Rootselaar stole the firearms in the late summer of 2025, and was hiding them in “preparation for a mass shooting.”
asserted
Rootselaar → cite → shooting
Only after the massacre would it emerge that the RCMP had previously seized firearms from the family home over concerns about Van Rootselaar’s deteriorating mental health, only to return them at an unspecified point before the tragedy following a petition from the guns’ “lawful owner.”
asserted
RCMP → emerge → owner
Nevertheless, Canadian investigators have thus far refused to release the details of the weapons used in the massacre, with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree saying it would be “irresponsible” given an ongoing investigation.
asserted
it → refuse → investigation
The text exchanges have Van Rootsellar sending an image to Bryant of a shotgun posed in front of a transgender flag.
asserted
Rootsellar → have → flag
Bryant also wired money to Van Rootsellar to purchase transgender-themed stickers to decorate the firearms.
asserted
Bryant → wire → firearms
Bryant wrote in August 2025, “stickers would be so funny to be seen in photos of the incident.”
asserted
stickers → write → incident
Images in the criminal complaint show a shotgun bearing a sticker depicting a planet bedecked in the transgender colours of pink, white and blue.
asserted
Images → show → pink
Van Rootsellar also donned fishnet tights to pose with a rifle featuring what appears to be a firearm suppressor carrying the colours of the trans flag.
asserted
what → don → flag
The messages also show Bryant sending money for a pair of women’s shoes that Van Rootsellar would wear while perpetrating the murders.
asserted
Rootsellar → show → murders
“I want the cute shoes for when I do my violence,” Van Rootsellar wrote in September 2025, before complaining that the shoes might not be appropriate for the winter weather.
“
uncertain
shoes → want → weather
I just am annoyed that like I’ll have to get wet feet probably.”
asserted
I → have → feet
One recurring point of discussion was Van Rootsellar’s insistence that the attack be livestreamed in order to provide a visual archive of the victims’ “last helpless moments on earth … the last thing they say, and their last movements.”
asserted
they → recur → earth
Van Rootsellar’s main hesitation for doing so, however, was a concern about his “voice being ugly.”
asserted
voice → do → ?
“I contemplated like just not having audio on the livestream, letting it be video only so that I can yap as much as I want during,” wrote Van Rootsellar on Sept. 11, 2025.
asserted
Rootsellar → contemplate → Sept.
“But I feel like the sounds from victims and the gunshot noises are valuable to have caught in audio recording.”
asserted
sounds → feel → recording
According to the criminal complaint, Bryant began watching when Van Rootsellar initiated a livestream via cellphone just moments after murdering his mother and an 11-year-old half brother.
uncertain
Rootsellar → accord → mother
However, the livestream went down before Van Rootsellar entered Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
asserted
Rootsellar → go → School
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