DESTIN, FLORIDA — Christopher Gillum, a former North Carolina law enforcement officer accused of planning a racially motivated mass shooting at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, was arrested Wednesday at a hotel in Destin, Florida, on a Louisiana fugitive warrant. Deputies recovered a handgun and about 200 rounds of ammunition from the hotel room.

Gillum, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was wanted by the Department of Public Safety for terroristic threats. Federal authorities say he planned to kill Black people at the festival, which runs from Thursday through May 3 and drew about 460,000 people last year.

Gillum served as a sworn police officer for Chapel Hill from 2004 until his resignation in 2019. He was hired as a detention officer by the Orange County Sheriff's Office in October 2023 and left that position in July 2024. He was later hired as a deputy on January 13, 2025, and resigned on September 21, 2025.

Gillum's family reported him missing on Tuesday and told law enforcement he had a gun and had expressed recent threats to harm Black people, according to a bulletin from the Burlington, North Carolina police. Lt. Clint Lyons of the Alamance County Sheriff's Office said Gillum had a history of self-harm. "But we felt that there was definitely something there that needed to be shared, so that's what we did," Lyons said.

Okaloosa deputies conducted a welfare check on Gillum Wednesday morning and were not aware of any threats at that time, sheriff spokesperson Michele Nicholson said. After learning he was under investigation, deputies surveilled him until a signed warrant arrived from Louisiana, she said.

Gillum was arrested as a fugitive from justice and will be extradited to Louisiana to face charges there. Louisiana State Police are investigating the episode with the FBI. "At this time, there are no known direct threats to any festivals in Louisiana," Louisiana State Police Trooper Danny Berrincha said.