Washington Woman Detained in Canadian School Shooting Conspiracy Case

A Washington state resident charged with conspiracy in one of Canada's deadliest school shootings has been ordered detained pending further hearings.

Melody Bryant, of Bellingham, Washington, was charged this month with conspiring to murder people in a foreign country. Investigators allege Bryant provided assistance to Jesse Van Rootselaar, who killed eight people and wounded 27 in February in the mountain community of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.

According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Bryant allegedly declined to report Van Rootselaar's plans, agreed to distribute a livestream of the attack, provided money, and shared advice on deleting online messages to conceal the plot.

At a detention hearing Tuesday, Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler determined that no conditions, including internet restrictions, could ensure community safety if Bryant were released pending trial.

Bryant has not entered a plea. Her public defender, Greg Murphy, stated in court that he has not yet received sufficient evidence to evaluate the government's case. Murphy argued for her release, noting that federal agents interviewed Bryant days after the attack and allowed her to remain free for the subsequent seven months. He pointed out that authorities waited four days after filing the complaint on Oct. 2 to take her into custody.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg countered that the criminal charge carries a presumption of detention. "The defendant was, over the course of months, in daily communication with someone who was planning a mass murder event in British Columbia," Greenberg told the judge. "Bryant chose not to intervene."

Authorities reported that Van Rootselaar killed his mother and stepbrother before attacking a nearby secondary school, where he killed five children and an educational assistant. Van Rootselaar died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Tumbler Ridge is located in the Canadian Rockies, over 600 miles northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia, near the provincial border with Alberta. The school has approximately 175 students from Grades 7 to 12.

In a separate development, families of victims are suing OpenAI in U.S. federal court, alleging the ChatGPT maker failed to alert police to the shooter's concerning interactions with the chatbot.