US arrests suspect in connection with Tumbler Ridge school shooting 

Law enforcement in the northwestern United States have charged a suspect in connection with a deadly shooting at a Canadian school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

On Tuesday, prosecutors charged 30-year-old James Cody Bryant, a resident of Washington state, with conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country.

Bryant allegedly provided money and technical advice to the attacker in conversations over the internet, starting six months before the February 10 attack.

The shooting was “a horrific tragedy for that small community and for all of Canada”, acting US Attorney Neil Floyd said at a news conference in Seattle. “Indeed, here in the Pacific Northwest, we felt the pain of those families devastated by this violence.”

Canadian officials have described the attack as one of the country’s worst mass shootings.

The suspect, 18-year-old transgender woman Jesse Van Rootselaar, shot and killed her mother and half-brother at their home before travelling to the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School and opening fire.

Six people were killed, including five students, and 27 other victims were injured. Van Rootselaar, a former student at the school, died by suicide at the end of the attack.

Police in Canada said at the time that Van Rootselaar had a history of mental health issues.

US prosecutors allege Bryant and Van Rootselaar had been in touch through the social media service Discord and had discussed how to carry out the mass shooting.

The pair discussed how to maximise notoriety after the attack, with Bryant allegedly agreeing to livestream it through Twitch, Floyd said on Tuesday.

Bryant also allegedly provided money for items like a pair of shoes for the attack and instructed Van Rootselaar on how to start and then drive a car to reach the school.

Prosecutors alleged Bryant, whom officials cited by The Associated Press and Reuters say identifies as female, had admitted to investigators that she was “maybe the only one who could have stopped the shooter”.

In September, the British Columbia government sued the technology company OpenAI in a California court, saying its ChatGPT platform played a role in the shooting.

Van Rootselaar, the Canadian officials alleged, had been flagged by OpenAI’s safety team for her statements about gun violence, and her account had been suspended. But law enforcement authorities were not alerted to the problem.

In its lawsuit, British Columbia sought financial compensation from the company to cover its emergency response to the shooting and community recovery efforts.

It also asked the court to force OpenAI to reform how it identifies and handles users who threaten violence.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he was “deeply sorry” his company had not contacted law enforcement in a public letter two months after the shooting.

“While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognize the harm and irreversible loss your community has suffered,” he wrote, adding that OpenAI would take steps to prevent such “tragedies” in the future.

The lawsuit filed in California alleges Altman’s company never undertook the promised policy changes.

By the time of the filing, OpenAI was facing more than 30 other lawsuits in California, where it is based, from victims’ families, survivors and others affected by the Tumbler Ridge attack over alleged negligence.