PENTICTON — A 30-year-old western Washington resident faces a charge of conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country in connection with the February 10 school shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, Acting US Attorney Neil Floyd announced Tuesday.Floyd, the acting US attorney for the Western District of Washington, confirmed the arrest stems directly from the mass shooting in British Columbia.The US Department of Justice scheduled a noon briefing Tuesday to release further details. As of 10:30 a.m. PDT, authorities had not released the defendant's name, and the criminal complaint had not been made public.The charge represents an allegation, and a criminal complaint is not a finding of guilt.Global BC first reported the arrest Tuesday morning based on initial Justice Department statements, though early reports did not detail the suspect's alleged role..On February 10, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed six people at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to RCMP. The victims at the school included students Abel Mwansa, Kylie Smith, Zoey Benoit, and Ticaria Lampert, all 12; Ezekiel Schofield, 13; and educational assistant Shannda Aviugana-Durand, 39.At a nearby home, police discovered the bodies of Van Rootselaar's mother, 39-year-old Jennifer Jacobs (also known as Jennifer Strang), and 11-year-old half-brother, Emmett Jacobs. RCMP reported that 25 additional people sustained injuries during the attack.RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, who referred to Van Rootselaar as a "gunperson," stated that Van Rootselaar was born male, began identifying as female approximately six years prior to the attack, and had dropped out of the school four years earlier..Police had previously responded to the family home multiple times for mental-health calls, including incidents involving weapons. McDonald noted Van Rootselaar had no family relation to the victims killed at the school..In August, following the release of heavily redacted search warrants obtained by a media consortium, BC RCMP confirmed the criminal investigation remained active and open to further charges.Court documents reported by CBC reveal that the FBI notified the RCMP on February 15 that OpenAI had identified two ChatGPT accounts linked to Van Rootselaar. Internal company logs showed OpenAI banned one account in June 2025 after reviewing a chat tied to a potential school shooting. OpenAI did not report the chat to law enforcement at the time, according to the warrant filings.The Government of British Columbia has since filed a civil lawsuit against OpenAI in California. That civil litigation remains completely separate from the federal criminal complaint in Washington.Authorities have not indicated whether the 30-year-old suspect worked for OpenAI, provided a firearm, or directly communicated with Van Rootselaar prior to the attack.Conservative Party of BC interim leader Lorne Doerkson was asked by CBC's Katie DeRosa about the arrest announcement during a Vancouver press conference Tuesday morning. .....more to come
