A former North Carolina police officer was arrested in Florida yesterday, April 22, under suspicion of planning a mass shooting at a festival in Louisiana. According to a statement from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department, Christopher Gillum was taken into custody from his hotel room, where officers reportedly found a handgun and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition. Officers did not confirm Gillum’s target, but the 2026 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival begins today and runs through May 3.
Gillum’s family reported him missing in Burlington, North Carolina on Tuesday after he had “expressed recent threats to harm ‘Black people,’” according to a police bulletin obtained by Associated Press. Alamance County Lieutenant Clint Lyons told the AP that Gillum crossed the southern state line before the paperwork could be filed to involuntarily commit him to psychiatric treatment.
Federal agents reportedly tipped off Okaloosa County law enforcement that Gillum was in Florida. A spokesperson for the department told AP that officers were originally told to perform a “welfare check,” but after learning he was being investigated, placed Gillum under surveillance until they could obtain an arrest warrant. He is charged with being a fugitive from justice and will be tried in Louisiana.
AP further reports Gillum served as a police officer in Chapel Hill, North Carolina from 2004 until 2019. He worked on and off for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office between October 2023 and September of last year, when he resigned from his position as deputy.
New Orleans Jazz Fest’s 2026 headliners include Stevie Nicks, Kings of Leon, Lorde, David Byrne, Herbie Hancock, and Mavis Staples. Pitchfork has reached out to the festival, as well as the Okaloosa County and Alamance County Sheriff’s departments, for comment.
This is a developing story.