Former North Carolina officer freed after grand jury declines terrorism indictment

Former Chapel Hill police officer Christopher Gillum was released after a Louisiana grand jury refused to indict him on a state terrorism charge tied to an alleged New Orleans mass-shooting plot.

Christopher Gillum, a former officer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was taken into custody in April after authorities alleged he plotted a mass shooting at a New Orleans festival aimed at black people, followed by a suicide-by-cop scenario. The FBI, Louisiana State Police and other agencies seized a handgun and about 200 rounds of ammunition from his Florida hotel room, and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office located him using its Flock camera system.

In June, a Louisiana grand jury declined to indict him on a state terrorism charge that could have carried up to 15 years, citing that the alleged threat originated in North Carolina and that Gillum never entered Louisiana before his arrest. Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office noted the jurisdictional issues, while spokesperson Lester Duhe explained the timing of Gillum’s planned travel to the Florida Keys overlapped with the suspected Louisiana trip. Gillum’s background includes service with the Chapel Hill Police Department (2004-2019), Carolina Beach Police, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and his family has disclosed a history of self-harm and treatment at an out-of-state facility after his release.