An FBI complaint filed in Seattle alleges Jesse Van Rootselaar told a man she planned to use an SKS “machine-gun conversion device,” after the rifle was previously confiscated by the RCMP.
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The FBI has released details from a complaint in a case involving James Bryant, who is charged with conspiracy to murder in a foreign country, and prosecutors say it includes new allegations about firearms that may have been involved in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting.
The complaint, sworn by an FBI agent in Seattle, says Van Rootselaar told Bryant in online chats that she had prepared for a mass shooting by taking firearms and ammunition from a family gun safe and hiding them in her room.
According to the complaint, Bryant, 30, of Bellingham, Washington, told the FBI that Van Rootselaar “ended up using some of these same items during the Tumbler Ridge shooting,” the day she killed eight people on Feb. 10 at her home and then at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.
The complaint alleges Van Rootselaar discussed a 3D-printed foregrip, firearm magazines and a “switch” device for an SKS rifle. The FBI says the “switch” likely referred to a “machine-gun conversion device.”
The complaint says Van Rootselaar also claimed that she had convinced another person to purchase ammunition on her behalf, and it includes an allegation that one of the weapons she intended to use had been returned after previously being confiscated by the RCMP.
Acting on behalf of the RCMP in B.C., Assistant RCMP Commissioner Elija Rain said in a statement that the criminal investigation into the shooting remains ongoing and that investigators have made substantial progress.
Rain said the RCMP’s release of information about the case has recently been limited “because of the need to ensure our investigative theories and actions were not compromised.”
The complaint also includes a photo, which the FBI says depicts Van Rootselaar posing on her knees while holding an olive-green rifle with a telescopic sight on the morning of the attack. The FBI says the rifle appears to have a suppressor decorated with blue, white and pink bands of the transgender Pride flag.
The FBI said Tuesday that Van Rootselaar was trans and that Bryant identifies as female.
The complaint describes Van Rootselaar telling Bryant in December 2025 that police “knocked my SKS sights off zero” when they “roughly confiscated it,” and that she believed the gun would be hitting high and to the left.
The FBI also says another photo in the complaint shows a Canuck-branded shotgun Van Rootselaar said she would use in the attack, decorated with a sticker in blue, white and pink.
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