A U.S. citizen has been detained on Tuesday in connection with the February 2024 mass shooting at a Canadian school that claimed eight lives, including six children. The Department of Justice announced that James Codey Bryant, 30, a resident of western Washington state, faces a charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country. Authorities say Bryant provided financial support and technical guidance to the alleged shooter for six months leading up to the attack.
According to the indictment, Bryant and the shooter, 18‑year‑old Jesse Van Rootselaar, first met on the now‑defunct messaging service Omegle about three years before the incident. Over that period, Bryant allegedly sent Van Rootselaar approximately $100 to buy new shoes and $15 for a lighter, and offered advice on deleting messages, using a VPN, and even how to start a car after the shooting. He also reportedly agreed to livestream the event. No evidence exists that the two ever met face‑to‑face.
Van Rootselaar had used the AI chatbot ChatGPT to plan the attack, prompting OpenAI’s safety team to flag her internally. The company closed her account but she created a new one that was not shut down. Families of the victims and the province of British Columbia have sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman for failing to report her conduct. The shooting, the second‑deadliest in Canadian history, killed Van Rootselaar’s mother and half‑brother in their home before she proceeded to the school.
Bryant’s arrest comes as the FBI’s Seattle bureau and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police conduct a joint investigation. He is expected to be prosecuted in the United States as a U.S. citizen, and the FBI has pledged to continue working closely with Canadian authorities. It remains unclear whether Bryant has retained legal counsel.
