Washington man charged in Tumbler Ridge massacre plot. FBI filing shows guns decorated in trans-flag colors

The FBI arrested James Cody Bryant, 30, of Bellingham, Washington, on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. He is charged with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country over the February 10 mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. The charge carries up to life in prison.

These are allegations in a federal criminal complaint (Case No. MJ26-618, Western District of Washington).

What happened in Tumbler Ridge

On February 10, 2026, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed his mother and his 11-year-old brother at their home. He then drove to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and killed five children aged 12 and 13 and an educational assistant. The Associated Press reports that 25 other people were wounded. He fired at police, then shot himself.

The day after the attack, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said the shooter “was born as a biological male who approximately six years ago began to transition to female and identified as female.” Authorities say Bryant also identifies as female. W. Mike Herrington, head of the FBI’s Seattle office, said both “identified as trans.”

What the complaint alleges

An FBI agent swore out the complaint, and a federal magistrate judge signed it on October 2. It quotes months of Discord messages. According to the complaint:

The two met about three years ago on Omegle, a random video-chat site. In the six months before the attack they spoke daily.
Bryant agreed to record and rebroadcast the shooter’s livestream of the killings. He helped test the stream on August 30, 2025 (“looks solid”) and again on January 4, 2026 (“It works. I saw your lighter.”).
He gave tactical advice. On August 8, 2025, while they discussed targets: “Hallways also mean a lot of ways people can escape. Corners to turn. Wide open spaces means numbers.” On August 26, he said the shooter “should have a handgun” and added, “this is smart.” When the shooter asked whether a suicide vest should be real or fake, Bryant replied: “Function over form imo. As long as it works it’s good.”
He sent money. PayPal records show $124.47 on November 21, 2025, which went toward the shoes the shooter wore during the attack. On January 25, 2026, he sent $14.33 for a lighter for the explosive device used in the school. PayPal reversed that second payment.
He talked about hiding the evidence. “I think we should find a way to delete all our messages,” he wrote on August 11, 2025. In December he said he needed a VPN in case he got “in trouble [for] posting a shooting video online.”
He promised not to report it: “You believe me when I promise I won’t snitch on you, right?” In another message: “I know I can like, save lives I guess but idk.” On January 6, 2026, the shooter raised attacking his old high school in town. Bryant said he would report that, then told the shooter not to share “info like that” with him, promised not to send police, and wrote: “People die no matter what.”
On the day. The shooter wrote, “I’m going now. Fr. Live. I shot them.” Bryant replied: “Watching now.” Then Bryant helped him start the car. The Twitch stream lasted about 20 seconds. Twitch says only one account watched it, and that account was registered under Bryant’s date of birth and email address.

The complaint also shows Bryant sometimes urged the shooter to reconsider, and says he told him a school was a bad target. But prosecutors say he never called police. Herrington said investigators don’t know whether the attack would have gone ahead without Bryant’s “misplaced loyalty” and his willingness to broadcast the killings.

What the photos show

Cover photos: U.S. Department of Justice court filing (U.S. v. Bryant, MJ26-618).

The complaint includes photos that, according to the FBI, the shooter sent Bryant over Discord. They are the public’s first look at the weapons. The RCMP has released no details about the guns.

A Canuck pump-action shotgun with a round sticker on the receiver: a ringed planet striped in the pink, white and blue of the transgender flag. It leans against a wall in front of a transgender pride flag. The Canadian Press reports that the shooter told Bryant this gun would be used in the attack.
A rifle with a telescopic sight. The device on the end of the barrel, which appears to be a suppressor, is wrapped in blue, pink and white bands. The person holding it is kneeling in a skirt and fishnet stockings, with the head out of frame. The Canadian Press describes it as a photo from the morning of the attack.
The firebomb. A glass bottle with a lighter strapped on with a rubber band. The FBI says the device in that photo was used inside the school.

According to the complaint, the decorations were deliberate. In August 2025 the shooter asked Bryant for extra money for stickers to decorate the guns. Bryant answered: “love the stickers. [] stickers would be so funny to be seen in photos of the incident.” The day before the attack, the shooter said his camera holder had an “upside down pride flag” that “gives the vibe that it’s in distress.” In September 2025, when the shooter worried about his “ugly” voice, Bryant reassured him that a silent livestream would leave “no lasting evidence of your voice, just a pretty girl gunning ppl down.”

What Canadian authorities kept back

For eight months, Canadians were told almost nothing about the guns. In a September 23 letter, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said firearms information would stay under wraps because it is “subject to an active investigation.” This week, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said it would be “irresponsible” to disclose the guns and insisted it was “absolutely not” a political decision. On October 6 in Seattle, Assistant Commissioner Elija Rain of the B.C. RCMP declined questions about the guns, citing a publication ban in Canada.

Juno News asked the RCMP outright whether the photos had been kept unpublished to hide how the shooter’s trans identity played a role. The RCMP didn’t answer that question directly. It said: “the firearms in question are currently subject to a publication ban in Canada,” and that it “could not previously release them because of legislative restrictions and ongoing court proceedings.”

Here is what the record does and does not show. The RCMP disclosed the shooter’s sex the day after the attack, after first saying it wouldn’t release the name or gender and referring to a “gunperson.” No official has named a motive tied to gender identity. U.S. officials said on October 6 that no specific ideology bonded the two or drove the shooting, and pointed instead to an “intense desire” for notoriety. But Canadians only learned that the guns were decorated in trans-flag colors because a U.S. court made the filing public. Ottawa still says the guns themselves are under a publication ban.

I believe Canadian authorities hid this evidence. For eight months they told the public nothing about these guns, and Canadians had to learn the truth from an American courtroom.

How it came to light

Within hours of the shooting, Discord found accounts linked to the shooter and their private messages with Bryant. It gave the information to the RCMP, which contacted U.S. Homeland Security, and the FBI opened a case. Homeland Security agents interviewed Bryant at home on February 12. The FBI interviewed him again on March 3. Bryant refused to let Discord hand over the messages, so a federal judge issued a search warrant on March 13. Discord says every message was a private one-on-one chat, not a public server or group chat, and that no user ever reported it.

What happens next

Bryant made his first court appearance in Seattle on October 6 and is in custody. A federal public defender represents him. Prosecutors want him held without bail. A detention hearing is set for Tuesday, October 13, and a preliminary hearing for October 20 at 1 p.m. PT. The RCMP says further charges in Canada “remain under active consideration.”

The questions this raises

Online radicalization. For months, a deeply troubled teenager planned a school massacre in private chats with an adult in another country. According to the complaint, that adult cheered him on, paid for part of his outfit, and promised to keep it secret. The shooter had already been institutionalized twice, the second time after setting his room on fire. Nobody reported a thing. Parents need to know that this can happen in private chats on a mainstream app.

Gender identity. The FBI says it has no indication that the two stayed connected because they are transgender. But the record shouldn’t be ignored. The Globe and Mail reported that at 15, the shooter posted online about his anguish over waiting for cross-sex hormones, fearing puberty was making him look more male. Six months before the attack, he photographed a shotgun with a trans-flag sticker in front of a trans flag. On the morning of the attack, he posed with a rifle wrapped in the same colors. His alleged co-conspirator joked about how the stickers would look “in photos of the incident.” Those facts deserve scrutiny, not silence.

The coverage. Most outlets call the shooter “she” and use “she” or “they” for Bryant. CBC’s report on the charges doesn’t mention that either one identifies as transgender. AP mentions it in a single paragraph. Calling a male “she” doesn’t change what happened, and Canadians shouldn’t have to wait for an American courtroom to learn basic facts about one of the deadliest school shootings in their country’s history.

Bob Zimmer, the MP for Tumbler Ridge, said the victims deserve answers. They do. Our hearts are with the families of the children and staff who were killed, and with everyone in Tumbler Ridge.

Sources

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