US man arrested as second suspect in Canada mass school shooting planned with ChatGPT

Officials announce the arrest of a 30-year-old Washington state man on a charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country. Photograph: David Ryder/ReutersView image in fullscreenOfficials announce the arrest of a 30-year-old Washington state man on a charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleA surprise suspected accomplice has been arrested in connection with a mass school shooting in Canada that was made notorious after an 18-year-old allegedly killed six children after discussing it with the AI chatbot ChatGPT.

The US Department of Justice said Tuesday it had detained James Codey Bryant, 30, a resident of western Washington state, on a charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country.

Bryant offered money and “technical advice” to the suspected shooter for six months leading up to the killings, the justice department alleged.

Canadian police have identified the suspect in this year’s massacre of eight people – including her mother and half-brother, as well as the six children, making it the second-deadliest school shooting in the country’s history – as Jesse Van Rootselaar, who has a history of mental health problems.

It had been known that Van Rootselaar had used ChatGPT to plan the attack, which took place in February. The safety team at OpenAI, the company that owns the chatbot, flagged Van Rootselaar internally after she conducted conversations with it about gun violence, but the company did not alert police.

It did reportedly close Van Rootselaar’s account, but she started a second one that was not closed. Victims’ families and the province of British Columbia have sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, for failing to report her behaviour.

It was not previously known publicly that Van Rootselaar was also talking to a human about her plans.

In a joint press conference with the justice department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Tuesday, authorities alleged that Bryant and Van Rootselaar met on the now-defunct messaging service Omegle about three years prior to the shooting and kept in contact.

Autoridades disseram que não há indicação até agora de que os dois suspeitos tenham se encontrado pessoalmente.

According to an indictment obtained by CBC, Bryant was “knowingly and wilfully” conspiring with Van Rootselaar beginning in or before August 2025.

Naquele agosto, Bryant disse a Van Rootselaar que o casal deveria “find a way to delete” suas mensagens, e em meados de dezembro Bryant sugeriu adquirir um VPN para evitar detecção ao “posting a shooting video online”, segundo o documento judicial revisado pela CBC.

A polícia afirmou que, em diversas ocasiões, Bryant tentou convencer Van Rootselaar a não cometer o ataque, mas não entrou em contato com as autoridades.

They added that after Van Rootselaar shot and killed her mother and brother in their family home, she was unable to start the car. Bryant advised her on how to turn on the engine, thereby allowing the shooter to reach the school and execute the attack, authorities said.

Bryant também supostamente concordou em transmitir ao vivo o tiroteio em massa, o que Harrington disse que a polícia não tinha certeza de que Van Rootselaar teria cometido se Bryant não tivesse feito isso.

It was not clear whether the suspect was represented by a lawyer. Bryant will be prosecuted in the US as a US citizen under an investigation by the FBI, which said it will continue working closely with Canadian authorities.