Published 8:46 pm Wednesday, October 14, 2026 By Lauren Collins/Black Press The alleged Washington State co-conspirator in the fatal mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge has been denied bail. Accused James Cody Bryant, a Bellingham resident, was in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington courthouse in Seattle Tuesday (Oct. 13) for a detention hearing. Judge Mary Alice Theiler ordered Bryant to be detained and remanded in custody. Bryant is next scheduled for a preliminary examination on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. Bryant was arrested Oct. 7 in Bellingham, Wash. and charged with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country in connection with the Feb. 10 school shootings in the northeastern B.C. community. The charge against Bryant has not yet been proven in court. Officials first spoke to Bryant two days after the mass shooting, but it took this long to get to a charge as officials worked to get subpoenas and warrants, then sift through copies of the “thousands” of communications between Bryant and the shooter, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar. Acting United States Attorney Neil Floyd said Bryant allegedly had repeated contact with the shooter, whom Floyd refers to as “JVR.” Floyd alleges Bryant offered JVR advice, sent money and even agreed to livestream the shootings. According to Floyd, Bryant had the information and ability to alert law enforcement — even discussing that possibility with the JVR — but chose not to. Eight people were killed, including six children, in the Feb. 10 shooting in Tumbler Ridge. Van Rootselaar died of a “self-inflicted wound,” according to police. Two people, Van Rootselaar’s mom and brother, were killed at their family home. The other six, five students and an educator, were killed at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Floyd alleges that Van Rootselaar had a hard time starting a vehicle after shooting at the home, but got it going with Bryant advice and assistance “so that JVR could proceed to the school and kill children.” Mike Herrington, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office, said Bryant and Van Rootselaar allegedly met on the now-defunct Omegle video chatroom about three years before the shooting. He said the two developed a friendship over the period of six months before they began to focus on discussions of violence. Herrington said Bryant also allegedly agreed to record a livestream of the mass shooting and “broadcast in a way that would maximize notoriety for the shooter.” That livestream was allegedly online for about 20 seconds before it was shut down. “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,” Herrington said.
Tumbler Ridge shooting accused co-conspirator denied bail: U.S. judge
