Ex-police officer planned mass shooting in New Orleans, officials say

A former North Carolina police officer was arrested Wednesday in Florida after law enforcement authorities determined that he had planned to travel to a large festival in New Orleans to carry out a mass shooting and “commit suicide by cop,” officials said.

Though officials would not confirm which event the former officer, Christopher Gillum of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was targeting, the multiday New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, known as Jazz Fest, began Thursday and typically draws about 400,000 attendees, according to its website.

He was detained “without incident” in a hotel in Destin along the Florida Panhandle, according to a statement from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s deputies recovered a handgun and roughly 200 rounds of ammunition from his room, the office said.

Gillum, 45, will remain at the Okaloosa County jail until his extradition to Louisiana, where he is wanted by authorities in Orleans Parish for making terroristic threats. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Gillum was an officer for the Chapel Hill Police Department from 2004 until his resignation in 2019, according to Alex Carrasquillo, a spokesperson for the town, who did not give a reason for his leaving the force. He returned to the department briefly in 2024, but left before the end of the year, Carrasquillo said.

He worked for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina as a detention officer from 2023-24, according to a spokesperson for the office, Alicia Stemper. Gillum returned to the sheriff’s office as a deputy in January 2025, before resigning that September. He was recognized as an “officer of the month” during that time, Stemper said, and she was aware of no “disciplinary write-ups” in his record.

In a statement, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno recognized the “tremendous, coordinated and swift work” of the law enforcement agencies involved in Gillum’s arrest, including the New Orleans FBI, the New Orleans Police Department and the Louisiana State Police.

“We will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners at every level to ensure that any potential danger is addressed quickly and decisively,” Moreno said.

The Louisiana State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Jazz Fest said it was “grateful to all law enforcement partners for their dedication and exceptional service in protecting our community.”

This year’s festival includes performances from the Eagles, Kings of Leon, Mavis Staples and Earth, Wind & Fire.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Copyright 2026 The New York Times Company

This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 8:21 PM.