February attack killed eight people, including six children

The US Department of Justice on Tuesday announced the charge against Bryant in the state of Washington, alleging he had been in repeated contact with the shooter, offering advice, sending money, and agreeing to livestream the attack. “Bryant had been in repeated contact with the shooter, offering advice, sending money, and even agreeing to livestream a horrific event,” officials said.

Bryant had the “information and ability to alert law enforcement, and even discussed that possibility with the suspect, but chose not to,” acting US Attorney Neil Floyd said during a joint news conference with Canadian authorities. The 30-year-old faces a penalty of up to life in prison if found guilty, officials said.

The February attack killed eight people, including six children, in the town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, a community of about 2,300 residents. Five young children and an educator died at a secondary school, while the shooter’s mother and 11-year-old stepbrother were killed at the family home. The attack was one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.

The shooter, 18-year-old Jessie Van Rootselaar, died of a self-inflicted gunshot injury during the attack. Police said Van Rootselaar had been known to law enforcement due to a history of mental health-related visits to her home over the years.

FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge Mike Herrington said Bryant allegedly enabled the suspect over a period of months, providing technical advice, money, and items to be used in the attack. He also agreed to record and broadcast a livestream in a way that would “maximise notoriety for the shooter,” Herrington said.

The livestream was only online for about 20 seconds and viewed by one account, according to court documents. “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, alleging that Bryant was fully aware of when the attack began.

The announcement comes as several lawsuits have been filed in connection with the shooting. After it was revealed that Van Rootselaar had consulted ChatGPT prior to the attack, the province of British Columbia and some families of the victims sued OpenAI, alleging the company failed to notify authorities about the shooter’s interactions with the chatbot. In April, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman apologized in an open letter, writing: “I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement.”