US prosecutors allege that a transgender American woman acted as the online adviser and accomplice to a transgender teenager accused of carrying out one of Canada’s deadliest school shootings, helping plan and support the attack for six months.
James Cody Bryant, 30, who identifies as female and reportedly uses the name Melody, appeared in a Washington court after being arrested Tuesday on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country.
Bryant, who lives in Bellingham near the Canadian border, allegedly supplied advice, money and technical assistance to 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar. Prosecutors say the support continued until the morning of the attack and while the violence was unfolding roughly 750 miles away.
Van Rootselaar was born male and had been transitioning to female for six years when she allegedly killed her mother and 11-year-old stepbrother in the remote British Columbia community of Tumbler Ridge on February 10. She then drove to a secondary school, where authorities say she killed five children aged 12 and 13 and an educational assistant. Twenty-seven other people were wounded.
The two first connected years ago on Omegle, the now-defunct anonymous chat platform that randomly matched users for one-on-one text and video conversations.
Their contact was initially sporadic but later moved to Discord and allegedly took a far more disturbing turn. According to an FBI complaint, Bryant offered advice on choosing a target, hiding the plan and publicizing the shooting’s livestream.
In the six months before the attack, the pair were reportedly in contact almost every day. Bryant allegedly discussed ways to increase the number of victims, writing that Van Rootselaar “should have a handgun… this is smart.”
“Hallways also mean a lot of ways people can escape. Corners to turn. Wide open spaces means numbers,” Bryant allegedly wrote, according to investigators.
Transgender woman James “Cody” Bryant, 30, who reportedly goes by “Melody,” was arrested Tuesday after federal prosecutors accused her of extensive communications with 18-year-old shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar (pictured) in the months before the February 10 attack, which left eight people dead and 27 wounded
Bryant and Van Rootselaar first met on Omegle years ago, but prosecutors say their communication became regular in August 2025, when they allegedly began discussing Van Rootselaar’s shooting plans
Van Rootselaar (pictured) and Bryant allegedly exchanged numerous messages about preparations for the killings, including possible attack sites, how the shooting would unfold and methods for concealing the plan
According to the FBI, Van Rootselaar told Bryant that she had taken guns and ammunition from her family’s gun safe and hidden them in her bedroom as she prepared for a mass shooting.
She allegedly described the weapons and equipment she had collected, including a 3D-printed foregrip, firearm magazines and a “switch” for an SKS, a gas-operated semi-automatic carbine.
“I think it’d be pretty hard to escape me with extended magazines on my vector, the recoil is just so light that I really don’t think I’d miss,” Van Rootselaar allegedly wrote in August 2025.
“I want people to hide because that means I can play hide and seek. it’s hard to bold down a hallway to escape when an accurate barrage of fire is being sent down it with ease.”
Investigators say Bryant also sent money for items connected to the attack, including $150 shoes for Van Rootselaar’s birthday, stickers intended to decorate the firearms and a lighter that prosecutors allege was later converted into part of a makeshift explosive device detonated during the massacre.
In one exchange, Van Rootselaar allegedly wrote, “I want the cute shoes for when I do my violence.” Bryant responded jokingly: “I guess I can’t really be blamed for contributing to your outfit in that case lmao.”
When Van Rootselaar asked whether she would still gain followers after carrying out the murders, Bryant allegedly replied: “I think you definitely would.”
In the months before the shooting, Van Rootselaar allegedly repeatedly urged Bryant to ensure that the attack would be livestreamed.
Bryant allegedly provided money for a lighter used to build an explosive device (pictured), which prosecutors say was detonated during the attack
Bryant also allegedly sent Van Rootselaar money on other occasions, one of which was used to fund stickers to decorate a shotgun used in the attack
After Van Rootselaar (pictured) 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
‘Pls tho I rlly do beg that u at least give a sincere try at being there for my final moments n manage to share them,’ she allegedly wrote. ‘I bought the whole camer holder thing n everything. I don’t wanna be let down.’
Bryant allegedly answered: ‘I will. I’ll be there.’
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In another exchange, Bryant allegedly discussed covering their tracks before the mass shooting, saying: ‘I think we should find a way to delete all our messages’.
According to the complaint, Bryant was still communicating with Van Rootselaar during the massacre.
After Van Rootselaar allegedly killed her mother, 39-year-old Jennifer Jacobs, and her brother, Emmett Jacobs, 11, at their residence at 2pm, investigators say she had trouble getting the vehicle started en route to the school. Bryant allegedly helped her get the car running over text instructions.
After starting the car successfully, Van Rootselaar wrote: ‘I’m going now. Fr. Live. I shot them.’ Bryant allegedly then began the livestream broadcast and responded: ‘Watching now.’
The subsequent Twitch livestream lasted only around 20 seconds, and was viewed by one account, investigators say. It allegedly showed Van Rootselaar sitting inside the vehicle with firearms cradled in her lap before she headed toward the school.
‘We certainly know the shooter was concerned that not enough people would see the livestream without Bryant broadcasting it,’ special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle office W Mike Herrington said.
According to the complaint, Bryant confirmed she was receiving the livestream moments before the attack. The complaint says Bryant at times tried to discourage Van Rootselaar from carrying out the attack but did not contact law enforcement and agreed to handle the livestream shortly before the shooting
‘[Van Rootselaar] was depending on Bryant to amplify the livestream because the shooter did not have many followers on social media,’ he continued.
Police say once at the school, Van Rootselaar tried unsuccessfully to gain entry but was deterred by locked doors, entering instead through a second door on the side of the building.
Van Rootselaar then deployed the improvised explosive device she had allegedly concocted with Bryant in the library, before firing through locked classroom doors and exchanging gunfire with officers. She then retreated into an empty room where she turned the gun on herself.
The five students killed were Abel Mwansa, Ezekiel Schofield, Kylie Smith, Zoey Benoit and Ticaria Lampert, alongside 39-year-old educational assistant Shannda Aviugana-Durand.
Several others were injured during the shooting, including Maya Gebala, who survived being shot in the head and recently celebrated her thirteenth birthday.
However, authorities also allege Bryant sometimes tried to persuade Van Rootselaar not to carry out the attack.
According to text messages submitted in court, Bryant attempted to dissuade the recipient on a few instances, writing: ‘I truly hope you reconsider today,’ before adding ‘I wish there were any other path for you, you shouldn’t have to do something like this.’
But prosecutors allege that the warnings never translated into a call to police and Bryant ultimately agreed to assist with the livestream, promising he would not ‘snitch.’
The five students killed were Abel Mwansa, Ezekiel Schofield, Kylie Smith, Zoey Benoit and Ticaria Lampert, alongside 39-year-old educational assistant Shannda Aviugana-Durand (not pictured)
‘I could [tell authorities]. I don’t want to honestly. I know I can like, save lives I guess but I don’t know,’ Bryant wrote to Van Rootselaar, according to the complaint.
Herrington described the alleged conduct in court as ‘misplaced loyalty,’ highlighting Bryant’s part in the murder, saying investigators cannot know whether Van Rootselaar would have attacked without Bryant’s alleged assistance.
Bryant’s sister Caitlin spoke to Our News Outlet US following the news of the arrest, describing Bryant, who went by ‘Cody,’ as a ‘pretty shy person who kept to himself.’
She said Bryant was in the process of transitioning and had started taking hormones, adding that the last text she had received from Bryant had asked how she thought their parents felt towards trans people.
Caitlin revealed that she bonded with her brother over playing video games and being active on Discord, the same platform Bryant would later use to assist Van Rootselaar concoct the attack.
‘He was definitely the one I was closest with growing up because we would play video games together, he was always on discord,’ she said.
Bryant is being detained pending further proceedings, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for October 20.
The charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
