People attend a vigil for the victims of a mass shooting, in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi)

By The Canadian Press

conspiracy to murder

Arrest of 30-year-old in Washington state over Tumbler Ridge mass shooting

Oct 6, 2026 | 12:58 PM

SEATTLE — A 30-year-old person from Washington state has been arrested on a charge of conspiracy to murder in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting.

Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said in a statement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice and the RCMP that the arrest and criminal complaint stem from the British Columbia shooting where eight victims were killed last February.

Floyd is set to be joined by representatives from the FBI and RCMP at a news conference at noon in Washington about the arrest.

The defendant is then scheduled to make an initial appearance at the U.S. District Courthouse in Seattle at 2.p.m., the statement said.

No other details have been released on how the suspect is allegedly involved in the case.

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Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and brother at their home before killing five students and an educational assistant at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School on Feb. 10.

Van Rootselaar, 18, then shot herself dead.

Details revealed since the shooting say the killer was coached and given tactical advice about how to conduct a mass killing by an artificial intelligence chatbot.

OpenAI said shortly after the murders that it shut down the killer’s first ChatGPT account but she opened a second account that wasn’t discovered until after the killings.

An article published by U.S. magazine Mother Jones in September said ChatGPT gave Van Rootselaar advice about how to circumvent its own safeguards by describing mass shooting scenarios in prompts as fictional or hypothetical.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2026.

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Arrest of 30-year-old in Washington state over Tumbler Ridge mass shooting

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