Disturbing messages encouraging trans mass shooter bring shadowy figure to light… as shocked family speaks out over plot allegations

Published: 20:58 EDT, 11 October 2026 | Updated: 21:01 EDT, 11 October 2026

Weeks before she carried out a rampage that killed eight people, Jesse Van Rootselaar sent her shadowy online friend a message that now reads like a countdown.

‘I need attention before I die,’ the 18-year-old transgender shooter allegedly wrote ahead of the bloodbath of February 10, 2026, in the Canadian Rockies town of Tumbler Ridge.

The two had chatted online for three years by the time Van Rootselaar killed her mother and stepbrother at home in the remote mountain town.

She then drove to her former school, where she murdered a teacher and five young students before taking her own life, police say.

In those chats, the pair allegedly hatched plans, swapped photos of homemade bombs and weapons adorned with trans motifs, and mapped out how to inflict the maximum carnage.

The FBI says that online friend was a direct accomplice, and last week it named the accused as James Cody Bryant, 30, who lived in Bellingham in Washington state.

Bryant, who is also trans, appeared before a judge in Seattle on Tuesday afternoon, charged with conspiracy to murder people in a foreign country, the US Department of Justice said.

The charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison if convicted, and Bryant has not yet entered a plea or been linked to a publicly listed lawyer.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, opened fire in the library at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in British Columbia on February 10, killing one teacher and five students

James ‘Cody’ Bryant, 30, of Bellingham, Washington, was arrested Tuesday after federal prosecutors accused him of communicating extensively with Jesse Van Rootselaar in the months before the February 10 attack

Thousands of miles away in Florida, Bryant’s family has been left reeling that someone with ‘a lot of potential’ could have allegedly played a part in such horror.

‘I don’t know how it could have gone this wrong with him or her,’ said Bryant’s younger sister, Caitlin Bryant, 23, who spoke to the Daily Mail from Tampa.

Born and raised in Florida, Bryant lived with relatives there until moving across the country to Washington State in 2021, and came home only once, for their mother’s wedding that August.

Caitlin believes she was the closest to her brother, bonding over video games, but noted he was ‘getting distant’ and the two have not spoken since the middle of 2025.

She learned in April 2025 that her sibling was taking cross-sex hormones and had been for a while, but said she had no idea about any of the online communications.

Caitlin switched between ‘he’ and ‘she’ pronouns for Bryant, whom she called her ‘brother.’

She called the alleged plot ‘bizarre’ and said she saw no hint of radicalization, aggression or political extremism in Bryant.

The family has not yet discussed what they can do, and Caitlin fears they may not have the money to help out.

‘I personally would love to go over there to at least see him one last time, but I don’t know if that’s going to be possible,’ she added.

Bryant had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth after that April conversation, Caitlin said, adding that Bryant has no social media presence. It also appears that her Discord and Twitch accounts have been completely scrubbed.

But now Bryant’s alleged Discord messages have spilled out in the FBI’s 41-page complaint, which lays bare a twisted chat dominated by anger, suicide, grievance and a hunger for notoriety.

Van Rootselaar had suffered a series of mental health problems, and the chats paint a young person consumed by pain, rage and a craving to be seen.

The complaint says the pair met online around 2023, roughly three years before the attack, and Caitlin noted that Van Rootselaar was still a minor back then.

Van Rootselaar was later hospitalized after being deemed a danger to herself, according to the document, and the pair lost touch for a time.

They reconnected, and investigators say the bond grew more intense in the final months, with Van Rootselaar frequently talking about killing family members and others she believed had mistreated her.

In one chilling exchange, Van Rootselaar discussed earlier Canadian shootings and mused that she could ‘steal that title,’ according to the complaint.

Prosecutors allege Bryant allegedly provided tactical advice, recommended firearms, supplied money for items connected to the planned attack and helped Van Rootselaar test equipment for a livestream that was intended to broadcast the massacre

The FBI released transcripts of the alleged dark chain of messages between Bryant and Van Rootselaar

Bryant at one point in the thread praised Van Rootselaar for her ‘solid plans’ for a mass killing

Bryant replied with advice on how to kill more people, and about three days later suggested they ‘find a way to delete’ their messages.

The document says Bryant ‘knowingly and wilfully’ conspired with Van Rootselaar from August 2025 or earlier, a stretch of up to six months before the shooting.

The messages suggest a close, emotionally supportive bond, and the pair seemingly discussed Van Rootselaar’s personal grievances far more than any violent transgender ideology.

Over several months, they talked about weapons, blue, pink and white trans stickers to decorate them with, shoes to wear on the day and the money Bryant was providing.

Van Rootselaar wanted the world to watch and asked Bryant to record and broadcast the attack live, the complaint says.

Bryant told investigators that running the livestream was meant to ‘placate’ Van Rootselaar, yet admitted testing the equipment and, on August 30, allegedly wrote that the test stream ‘looks solid.’

‘If I don’t livestream it people can be detached from the gravity of how I feel. It’s just another headline,’ Van Rootselaar allegedly wrote to Bryant.

She added: ‘I need people to see it and personally witness the lives be impacted,’ a demand Bryant allegedly agreed to meet.

The day before the attack, Bryant allegedly claimed to have adjusted to a different sleep schedule to be able to help run the livestream, the complaint shows.

Van Rootselaar had sent Bryant a photo of the fully assembled explosive device, which the FBI says was deployed during the attack.

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, Bryant and Van Rootselaar began communicating through Discord by August 2025 about a plan to kill multiple people in Canada

He also allegedly advised her on concealing the plot, including deleting messages and using virtual private networks to hide online activity as well as advising her on constructing a makeshift explosive device

At some points, Bryant appeared to be trying to talk Van Rootselaar out of killing innocents

On the day itself, Van Rootselaar told Bryant she was dressed for the attack and sent photos and video of herself and the weapons she planned to use.

Bryant said the stream was ready to run, and moments later Van Rootselaar announced she had killed her family at home, the complaint says.

When she could not work out how to start the car for the drive to the school, she asked Bryant for help, according to the filing.

Throughout the exchanges included in the criminal complaint, Bryant repeatedly promised not to contact police, at one point asking: ‘You believe me when I promise I won’t snitch on you, right?’

In another message, Bryant conceded: ‘I know I can like, save lives I guess but idk,’ yet kept the plan secret, the complaint alleges.

Prosecutors allege Bryant also helped Van Rootselaar pick locations without corridors and hallways that would allow potential victims to escape.

‘Wide open spaces means numbers,’ Bryant allegedly wrote on August 25, 2025, and elsewhere praised Van Rootselaar’s ‘solid plans’ and advised a handgun to ’cause a lot of damage.’

Yet the picture is mixed because at other points Bryant appeared to steer Van Rootselaar away from a school and towards a grocery store or church.

Van Rootselaar seen pictured happily gripping a rifle

On February 10, Van Rootselaar first killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother at a family residence in Tumbler Ridge, a remote community in northeastern British Columbia. She then drove toward Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Police say she opened fire at the school, killing five children and an educational assistant.

Mourners place flowers at a memorial during a candlelight vigil for the victims of Tumbler Ridge Secondary School mass shooting

The FBI released dozens of pages of conversations between the mass shooter and her alleged online accomplice

Bryant’s case is unusual because the alleged conspiracy involved a planned crime in another country. He faces a federal charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country, an offense that carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison

In early January, Bryant allegedly wrote: ‘I truly hope you reconsider today. I wish there were any other path for you, you shouldn’t have to do something like this.’

Despite Bryant’s alleged help, the livestream on Twitch was shut down after only about 20 seconds.

Mike Herrington, the FBI’s Seattle special agent in charge, said in a statement that Bryant acted ‘in a way that would maximize notoriety for the shooter.’

‘Without Bryant’s misplaced loyalty and willingness to operate the live stream, we don’t ultimately know if the shooter would have gone through with the crime,’ Herrington said.

Van Rootselaar, he said, was worried that too few people would watch and was relying on Bryant to amplify the stream because she had few social media followers.

Despite Bryant’s activity on social media, she has no profiles or photographs easily locatable online at present.

Caitlin said she is baffled by the FBI’s account that Bryant first tried to talk the shooter out of the plan, then helped.

‘They were trying to stop it, but then in the end, they just gave in and started helping,’ she said, adding that none of it makes sense.

Bryant remains in custody ahead of a bail hearing this week, followed by a preliminary hearing and grand jury process later this month.