US Man Arrested in Canada School Shooting Plot Linked to ChatGPT

A US man has been arrested in connection with a mass school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, which occurred in February 2026. James Cody Bryant, 30, from Bellingham, Washington, was detained on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, and charged with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country. Authorities allege that Bryant communicated with the primary shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, for six months leading up to the attack, offering technical advice, providing money for supplies, and agreeing to livestream the event.

The tragic incident saw Van Rootselaar kill her mother and half-brother at home before proceeding to Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, where she shot and killed five children and an educational assistant, and injured 27 others. Van Rootselaar, who later died by suicide, reportedly utilized the AI chatbot ChatGPT to plan the massacre. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, had internally flagged Van Rootselaar's conversations about gun violence but did not alert law enforcement prior to the shooting.

Bryant's alleged involvement extended to advising Van Rootselaar on how to conceal her plot by deleting online messages and using a VPN, and even assisting her in starting a stalled vehicle as she departed for the school. Bryant appeared in a Seattle court on the day of his arrest and is currently being held, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for October 20. Families of the victims have also filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, contending that the company failed to notify authorities about the shooter's disturbing interactions with ChatGPT.