{"id":43057,"date":"2026-08-13T12:09:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=43057"},"modified":"2026-08-13T12:09:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:09:43","slug":"ex-nc-sheriffs-officer-christopher-gillum-released-after-grand-jury-declines-indictment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=43057","title":{"rendered":"Ex NC sheriffs officer Christopher Gillum released after grand jury declines indictment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F08%2Fnewspress-collage-7sr4sav61-1786603876534.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall%261786589514\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A former law enforcement officer\u00a0accused of p<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/23\/us-news\/distinguished-ex-cop-arrested-for-mass-shooting-plot-to-gun-down-black-people-at-new-orleans-festival\/\">lanning to kill black people in a mass shooting<\/a>\u00a0at a New Orleans festival was quietly released from custody over the summer after a grand jury found there was not enough evidence to charge him with a crime.<\/p>\n<p>A Louisiana grand jury in June declined to indict Christopher Gillum on a state terrorism charge that could have carried up to a 15-year sentence, court records show.<\/p>\n<p>Gillum, who had been held without bond, was released shortly after the grand jury\u2019s decision and is not facing charges in any other jurisdictions, according to his attorney, Dylan Utley. He declined to comment further.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Christopher Gillum was arrested at a hotel in Destin, Florida, on April 22, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">Okaloosa County Sheriff&#8217;s Office via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Gillum\u2019s release has not previously been reported.<\/p>\n<p>The 45-year-old ex-police officer, who is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, had been arrested in Florida in April with hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a handgun while on his way to Louisiana to commit a mass shooting, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The investigation had involved the FBI and authorities across Louisiana, North Carolina and Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities did not name the event Gillum was allegedly targeting, but his arrest came on the eve of the\u00a0New Orleans Jazz &amp; Heritage Festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers annually.<\/p>\n<p>Gillum, who is white, had \u201cexpressed recent threats to harm \u2018black people\u2019 \u201d, according to authorities.<\/p>\n<p>His family had reported him missing in North Carolina and said he had a history of self-harm.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Gillum\u2019s arrest came on the eve of the\u00a0New Orleans Jazz &amp; Heritage Festival. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Lester Duhe, a spokesperson for Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, said in a statement that Gillum\u2019s family had taken him \u201cto a treatment facility out of the state\u201d and that he is not facing additional criminal charges.<\/p>\n<p>Duhe said there were \u201cseveral jurisdictional issues\u201d that complicated the case after Gillum was extradited to Louisiana following his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe threat relayed to a family member actually occurred in North Carolina,\u201d Duhe said. \u201cThe defendant never entered the State of Louisiana until after his arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gillum had been planning to travel to the Florida Keys \u201cduring the same period he would have been suspected to travel to Louisiana,\u201d Duhe added.<\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter aligncenter inline-module--nypostbusinessunit aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-newsletter\" data-source-unit=\"Inline Newsletter Module Morning Report\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__title-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__unsubmitted-title-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Gillum was charged under a Louisiana statute for the crime of \u201cterrorizing,\u201d which requires that \u201ca crime of violence is imminent or in progress or that a circumstance dangerous to human life exists or is about to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Guidry, the foreperson for the grand jury, declined to comment on the decision to not indict Gillum.<\/p>\n<p>Katherine Schweit, a former Chicago prosecutor and FBI executive who ran the agency\u2019s active shooter program, said that thwarted acts of mass violence do not always lead to indictments, but prosecutors often seek an array of criminal charges when possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to convince a jury, or to convince a grand jury, that something might have happened,\u201d Schweit told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Gillum was arrested with hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a handgun while on his way to Louisiana to commit a mass shooting. <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Gillum was awarded Officer of the Month in June 2025 while working for the Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Office in North Carolina. <span class=\"credit\">Orange County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Law enforcement authorities in North Carolina, where Louisiana court records list Gillum as residing, told the AP that they were not aware he had been released from custody.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we\u2019ve got an individual that was accused of such an action, we would want to know if in fact he did return to Alamance County,\u201d said Byron Tucker, a spokesperson for the Alamance County Sheriff\u2019s Office in North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, said there are no plans for the state to pursue charges against Gillum.<\/p>\n<p>The office of the Florida Attorney General did not respond to a request for comment about whether Gillum may face additional criminal charges in its jurisdiction.<\/p>\n<p>The US Attorney\u2019s Office in the Eastern District of Louisiana also did not return messages seeking comment.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, the FBI New Orleans office said the decision whether to charge Gillum rested with prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>The New Orleans Jazz &amp; Heritage Festival declined to comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A former law enforcement officer\u00a0accused of planning to kill black people in a mass shooting\u00a0at a New Orleans festival was quietly released from custody over the summer after a grand jury found there was not enough evidence to charge him with a crime. A Louisiana grand jury in June declined to indict Christopher Gillum on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/newspress-collage-7sr4sav61-1786603876534.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1786589514&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/43058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}