A former North Carolina police officer was arrested in Florida earlier this week for allegedly threatening to carry out a mass shooting at a New Orleans music festival, officials said.
Officials said Gillum was wanted by the Department of Public Safety in Orleans Parish on terroristic threats charges after officials learned he allegedly planned to travel to New Orleans to carry out a mass shooting.
Authorities did not specify which festival Gillum allegedly planned to target. However, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival—one of the city's biggest music events—is currently underway, having kicked off on Thursday and running through May 3.
The festival, which draws hundreds of thousands of attendees, has featured prominent performers across various music genres over the years. NTD reached out to festival operators for comment, but a response was not immediately received.
Florida officials said they were notified that Gillum was in their jurisdiction and were able to track him in the area using the county's license plate reader system.
During Gillum's arrest, deputies seized a handgun and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition from his hotel room, officials said. He was booked into the Okaloosa County jail in Crestview, where he is being held pending extradition to Louisiana.
Lt. Clint Lyons of the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina said Gillum’s family had reported him missing on Tuesday, noting that he had a history of self-harm.
A spokesperson for the Chapel Hill Police Department told NTD via email on Friday that Gillum served on the force from 2004 until his resignation in 2019. He returned as a non-sworn employee in 2024 before departing for another job towards the end of that year, the spokesperson added. More recently, Gillum worked as a sheriff’s deputy in Orange County from January 2025 until his resignation that September.
Following Gillum's arrest, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden described the case as "disturbing," and credited technology such as the Flock plate reader system and strong interagency partnerships with helping to "prevent potential violence and bring wanted fugitives into custody safely before a tragedy could occur."
A legal representative for Gillum could not immediately be reached for comment.