A Washington resident and a Canadian shooter, connected by a screen

There is a particular kind of distance that can exist between two people who share a dark purpose—miles of border, a screen, a private chat room where words become plans. For six months, authorities say, a 30-year-old from Bellingham, Washington, and an 18-year-old in British Columbia spoke across that distance. The result, according to federal prosecutors, was one of Canada's deadliest school shootings.

James Cody Bryant was arrested Tuesday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country. The U.S. attorney's office in Seattle alleges that Bryant communicated with Jesse Van Rootselaar for months before the February attack, offering tactical advice, sending money for a lighter to build an explosive device, and agreeing to livestream the shooting .

"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," said W. Mike Herrington, the FBI special agent in charge in Seattle .

Van Rootselaar killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at their home in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, before going to the local secondary school. There, she shot five children—three 12-year-old girls, a 12-year-old boy, and a 13-year-old boy—and a 39-year-old educational assistant. Twenty-five others were wounded. She was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound .

Court documents describe a relationship built in the private corners of the internet. Bryant and Van Rootselaar met on Omegle, a chat site that shut down in 2023, and continued communicating on Discord . Bryant advised Van Rootselaar on how to maximize casualties: "Hallways also mean a lot of ways people can escape. Corners to turn. Wide open spaces means numbers" . Bryant told her to delete messages and use VPNs to avoid detection, and helped her test the quality of a livestream days before the attack .

At various points, authorities say, Bryant tried to talk Van Rootselaar out of the attack. But Bryant never contacted law enforcement and ultimately provided the support that prosecutors say made the shooting possible .

The case has reverberated on both sides of the border. Canadian Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree called the allegations "devastating." Bob Zimmer, the federal lawmaker representing Tumbler Ridge, said the victims "deserve answers" . The families of the victims have separately sued OpenAI, alleging the company failed to alert police to the shooter's alarming interactions with ChatGPT .

Bryant, who identifies as female, faces up to life in prison if convicted. A court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon . The RCMP says its investigation is ongoing, and further charges could be laid in Canada .

For the small mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, where everyone knows everyone and the school holds 175 students, the revelation that the shooter had a partner across the border adds another layer to a grief that was already difficult to hold.

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Sources: Associated Press, The Canadian Press, CBC News, Bernama, CNN, CGTN