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SEATTLE — A complaint by the FBI against James Bryant in U.S. district court provides extensive new allegations about the mass killings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., where eight victims died on Feb. 10, 2026.
FBI special agent Joseph Rico swears in the complaint that Bryant, who lives in Bellingham, Wash., met shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar online about three years ago.
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But they fell out of contact while the killer was institutionalized after setting her room on fire. After that, they spoke daily in the six months before the murders, Rico says.
The complaint says they communicated via the Discord platform, where Van Rootselaar used two accounts.
Here’s what the FBI is alleging in its case against Bryant, who is charged with conspiracy to murder in a foreign country. The claims have not been tested in court.
How Did Bryant allegedly help the killer?
Bryant is said to have encouraged and advised Van Rootselaar for months, then helped set up a livestream to broadcast the murders.
Rico says Bryant admitted helping Van Rootselaar test the livestream equipment. Bryant also allegedly explained that Van Rootselaar purchased a tactical chest rig designed to carry additional bullet magazines, and during a test of the livestream, Van Rootselaar mounted a cellphone to the chest rig.
The complaint says Bryant gave Van Rootselaar tactical advice as to how to carry out the murders. In August 2025, while discussing possible target locations, Bryant allegedly said: “Hallways also mean a lot of ways people can escape. Corners to turn. Wide open spaces means numbers.”
He is also said to have advised Van Rootselaar that she “should have a handgun … this is smart.”
Bryant is said to have told Van Rootselaar in the days leading up to the attack that she did not need to go through with it, but continued to help test the livestream and did not alert police.
On the day of the killings, Bryant is said to have helped Van Rootselaar, who did not know how to drive, start the car in which she drove to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where six victims died.
A person alleged to be Jesse Van Rootselaar is seen posing with a weapon in this Feb. 10, 2026, photo that was sent to James Bryant. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout U.S. Department of Justice)
The CCTV footage
Rico says CCTV footage shows Van Rootselaar enter Tumbler Ridge Secondary school through a side entrance, where she begins shooting at students and staff.
After Van Rootselaar has “killed and/or incapacitated several victims” she is allegedly seen lighting an explosive device, then throwing it near the school’s computer room and library.
“The device ignited and left obvious blast marks,” Rico says.
A photo in the complaint shows what Rico says is the same device, consisting of a plastic bottle filled with liquid and taped with items including a lighter.
It says Van Rootselaar then tries to enter other parts of the school but is deterred by locked doors.
“Van Rootselaar fired numerous shots into several of the doors,” it says.
Rico says police are then seen entering the building and Van Rootselaar retreats into an empty room, where she shoots herself dead.
The livestream
Rico says Bryant helped post a livestream on the day of the attack that lasted about 20 seconds on the Twitch platform.
“The livestream showed Van Rootselaar sitting in a vehicle with a rifle and another long gun in her lap,” he says.
During the livestream Van Rootselaar allegedly says to Bryant: “I’m going now. Fr (for real). Live. I shot them.”
Bryant allegedly responds: “Watching now.”
A photo of a gun decorated with stickers is seen in this undated photo allegedly sent by Jesse Van Rootselaar to James Bryant. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout U.S. Department of Justice )
The guns
The complaint includes photos of guns, including one allegedly taken on the morning of the attack that the FBI says shows Van Rootselaar, posing on her knees in a black miniskirt and fishnet stockings.
The person in the photo, whose head is not shown, is holding an olive-green rifle with a telescopic site. On the end of the barrel is what appears to be a suppressor, decorated in blue, white and pink bands of the transgender pride flag. Van Rootselaar was trans, and the FBI said Tuesday that Bryant identifies as female.
Another photo shows a Canuck shotgun that Van Rootselaar says will be used in the attack. It is decorated with a sticker in the same blue, white and pink colours.
Bryant allegedly tells Van Rootselaar: “love the stickers … stickers would be so funny to be seen in photos of the incident.”
The FBI says that about six months before the shooting, Van Rootselaar told Bryant she had stolen guns and ammunition from her family’s gun safe “and was hiding them in her room in preparation for a mass shooting.”
“Van Rootselaar also said she convinced another person to purchase ammunition on her behalf,” the complaint says.
The FBI says Van Rootselaar told Bryant about the types of guns and accessories she possessed, “including a 3D printed foregrip, firearm magazines, and a ‘switch’ for the SKS (likely referring to a machine-gun conversion device).”
It says that according to Bryant, Van Rootselaar “ended up using some of these same items during the Tumbler Ridge shooting.”
The location
Before settling on Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as the site of the attack, Van Rootselaar allegedly discussed other locations with Bryant.
He allegedly says somewhere “like Walmart or Costco would have a lot of people” but would be “too wide and open.”
“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,” Van Rootselaar adds in the August 2025 chat.
She says she wants to avoid a school, but “there’s just so many reasons why it’s ideal.”
She also sends Bryant a map of Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek.
“Out of the places I’ve looked at this seems to give me the best chance at getting a lot of time to shoot before the cops show up,” she says.
The motive
The complaint says Bryant told the FBI that after Van Rootselaar was institutionalized for setting her room on fire, she became “increasingly angry and suicidal.”
“Van Rootselaar often spoke about planning to use guns to murder her family members and others because she felt she had been mistreated,” it says.
It adds that Bryant believed “Van Rootselaar was fixated on mass shootings and watched livestreamed recordings of past shootings to learn from them.”
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