Washington State Resident Charged Over Role in Tumbler Ridge School Shooting That Killed 8
A 30-year-old from Washington state is charged with conspiracy to murder after allegedly aiding the teen behind Canada's Tumbler Ridge school shooting. Eight people died in the Feb. 10 attack.
Washington Man Charged With Aiding Shooter Who Killed Eight in Tumbler Ridge
A 30-year-old Washington state resident has been charged with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country, U.S. prosecutors announced Tuesday, in connection with the February 10 shooting rampage in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, that left eight people dead.
According to nbcnews.com, James Cody Bryant — who the FBI said identifies as female — was arrested Tuesday. Prosecutors allege Bryant provided advice, money, and an offer to help livestream the killings to Jesse Van Rootselaar, the 18-year-old shooter, prior to the attack.
Van Rootselaar, born male but transitioning to female for six years, killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother in the small town of Tumbler Ridge before proceeding to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. There, she shot and killed five children — three 12-year-old girls and two boys aged 12 and 13 — and a teacher. Van Rootselaar then died by suicide. Two other children were shot and sustained serious injuries.
The rampage was one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.
Discord messages and online contact
Bryant and Van Rootselaar first met on the former video chat service Omegle roughly three years before the attack and maintained contact through Discord, said W. Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI's Seattle office. There is no indication the two ever met in person.
Messages cited in the criminal complaint carry a conversational and friendly tone. In one exchange, Bryant wrote: "You believe me when I promise I won't snitch on you, right?" In another, Bryant told Van Rootselaar, "if you are uncertain, maybe take it as a sign."
On the day of the shootings, after Van Rootselaar had already killed her mother and stepbrother, she encountered difficulty starting her car. Neil Floyd, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said at a Tuesday news conference that Bryant "provided advice and offered assistance on how to get the car started so that JVR could proceed to the school and kill children."
'He chose not to alert law enforcement'
Floyd said Bryant had been in "repeated contact" with Van Rootselaar and was aware of the plan in advance. "Bryant had the information and ability to alert law enforcement, and even discussed that possibility with the shooter — but chose not to," Floyd said. "Instead, he encouraged and offered assistance to a murderer."
Prosecutors noted that Bryant attempted on several occasions to dissuade Van Rootselaar from carrying out the attack, but never contacted authorities and agreed to operate a livestream of the killings.
The shooting was briefly livestreamed on Twitch, running for approximately 20 seconds before the platform shut it off. According to the criminal complaint, a Twitch account appearing to belong to Bryant was the only account that viewed it.
Herrington said the shooter sought maximum viewership but lacked a significant social media following. "Without Bryant's misplaced loyalty and willingness to operate the livestream, we don't ultimately know if the shooter would have gone through with the crime," Herrington said. "We certainly know that the shooter was concerned that not enough people would see the livestream."
Community impact
Elija Rain, assistant commissioner of the British Columbia RCMP, described the broader toll of the attack on the small northern B.C. community. "The people of Tumbler Ridge experienced a tragedy that forever changed the lives of families, friends, students, educators, first responders and the entire community," Rain said.
The charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Bryant was in custody Tuesday. Federal court records did not list an attorney representing Bryant as of Tuesday afternoon.
Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)