Ex-cop arrested for plotting mass shooting at New Orleans Jazz Festival to ‘harm Black people’
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Christopher Gillum, 45, was booked in the Florida panhandle and during his arrest, police discovered 200 rounds of ammunition and a handgun in his hotel room.
A former North Carolina police officer was arrested in Florida on Wednesday (Apr. 22), after law enforcement officials across three states obtained information that the individual was traveling to New Orleans in order to commit a mass shooting at a New Orleans Jazz Festival.
Christopher Gillum, 45, had previously been reported missing by his family. Investigators quickly learned that Gillum was armed and posed a potential risk to himself and others, per the Burlington Police Department.
He was booked more than 600 miles away from his intended destimation on a charge of making terroristic threats. In his hotel room, police discovered more than 200 rounds of ammunition and a handgun. He is currently being held without bond and will be extradited to Louisiana to face charges there.
“Authorities obtained information Gillum planned to travel to a festival in New Orleans to conduct a mass shooting and then commit suicide by cop,” the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Per a police bulletin from the BPD, Gillum’s family told officers he had a gun and “expressed recent threats to harm ‘Black people.’” However, no criminal grounds existed to detain Gillum for the alleged threat, as, according to Lt. Clint Lyons of the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina, “there was no victim.” Still, the organization determined it needed to inform others about Gillum as he was traveling. He served as a police officer in Chapel Hill from 2004 until 2019, when he resigned.
It was not his last job as a police officer.
Gillum was hired as an officer in the town of Carolina Beach from October 2019 to October 2020, then he served as a detention officer in Orange County, North Carolina in 2023. He left that position in July 2024, returning to Chapel Hill as a non-sworn employee before leaving again, only to be rehired as an Orange County sheriff’s deputy in January 2025. He resigned last September.
Gillum’s arrest came days before the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival began on Friday. The popular festival, which wraps up on May 3, brings in nearly 400,000 people to the city each year.
“Jazz Fest is grateful to all law enforcement partners for their dedication and exceptional service in protecting our community,” Matthew Goldman, Jazz Fest press director, told USA TODAY. “As always, we coordinate closely with the FBI, Louisiana State Police, NOPD (New Orleans Police Department), NOCEM (New Orleans Office of Coordination and Emergency Management), and other agencies, and we will continue to do so as we look forward to another safe and joyful Jazz Fest.”
While the Louisiana State Police say they are not aware of any other possible threats, the city’s recent history says otherwise.
Last December, a former Marine attempted to carry out an attack in the city as he had guns and body armor in his vehicle. The 28-year-old was charged with threats in interstate commerce. On January 1, 2025, an individual driving a truck crashed into several people in the French Quarter, killing 14.