By Jack Brook, Jim Mustian and Kathy McCormackThe Related Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Authorities say a former North Carolina legislation enforcement officer deliberate to kill Black folks in a mass capturing at a serious New Orleans competition however was arrested at a Florida lodge with a handgun and tons of of rounds of ammunition.
Authorities in a number of states didn’t title the occasion, however the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Pageant, generally often called Jazz Fest, runs from April 23 by Might 3. The gathering attracted about 460,000 folks final 12 months, organizers mentioned.
Christopher Gillum of Chapel Hill, N.C., was needed for “terroristic threats,” the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Workplace in Florida posted on-line April 23. Federal authorities instructed the sheriff’s workplace that Gillum, who’s White, was within the Florida Panhandle “heading to do a mass capturing at a big competition in Louisiana.” The FBI in New Orleans mentioned it’s engaged on the investigation with legislation enforcement throughout the three states.
The Okaloosa sheriff’s workplace mentioned Gillum was arrested with out incident the night time of April 22 at a lodge within the metropolis of Destin, and posted a photograph of him being led away in handcuffs. Deputies recovered a handgun and about 200 rounds of ammunition from the lodge room, the assertion mentioned.
Gillum was arrested as a fugitive from justice and will probably be extradited to Louisiana to face costs there, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned. It was not instantly identified if he had a lawyer. The Related Press left a message at telephone numbers listed for him.
Gillum’s household reported him lacking on April 21 and he has a historical past of self-harm, in line with Lt. Clint Lyons of the Alamance County Sheriff’s Workplace in North Carolina. Gillum’s household instructed legislation enforcement he had a gun and had “expressed latest threats to hurt ‘Black folks,’” in line with a bulletin from police in Burlington, N.C.
Lyons mentioned Gillum left the state earlier than his company may put together the paperwork to involuntarily commit him to psychiatric remedy. Lyons mentioned there have been no felony grounds to detain Gillum regardless of his feedback about Black folks “as a result of there was no sufferer,” nevertheless the company determined it wanted to unfold the phrase about him to different departments.
Gillum was positioned and stopped by legislation enforcement in Oklaloosa County on April 22, in line with Lyons and the Burlington police bulletin.
Nevertheless, he “didn’t current any grounds for involuntary dedication or felony costs” and was allowed to proceed on his approach, the bulletin said. Gillum instructed officers he was “enroute to New Orleans,” the report added.
Okaloosa deputies have been initially requested to make a “welfare test” on him early April 22 however they didn’t know he’d been making violent threats, sheriff spokesperson Michele Nicholson mentioned.
Later that day, after the sheriff’s workplace discovered Gillum was being investigated, deputies surveilled him till an arrest warrant arrived from Louisiana, she added.
“Presently, there are not any identified direct threats to any festivals in Louisiana,” State Police spokesperson Trooper Danny Berrincha mentioned.
Gillum served as a sworn police officer in Chapel Hill from 2004 till his resignation in 2019, city spokesperson Alex Carrasquillo mentioned.
He labored as a police officer within the coastal city of Carolina Seashore from October 2019 till his resignation the next October, city administrative providers officer Sheila Nicholson mentioned.
Gillum grew to become a detention officer in October 2023 with the Orange County, N.C., sheriff’s workplace and left in July 2024, spokesperson Alicia L. Stemper mentioned.
He returned to the Chapel Hill police power as a non-sworn worker in 2024 earlier than leaving once more by the top of the 12 months, Carrasquillo mentioned. He was then rehired as an Orange County sheriff’s deputy in January 2025 however resigned that September, she mentioned.
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Mustian reported from Natchitoches, Louisiana, and McCormack from Harmony, New Hampshire. Related Press author Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, contributed.
