Former OC deputy held in New Orleans mass shooting plot

A former Orange County sheriff's deputy was arrested at a Florida hotel Wednesday on suspicion of planning a mass shooting at a New Orleans festival, where he allegedly intended to die in a confrontation with police, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

The case carries direct local significance: Christopher Gillum served as a sworn Orange County Sheriff's Office deputy as recently as September 2025, less than a year before his arrest.

Okaloosa County Sheriff's deputies arrested Gillum at a Destin hotel Wednesday evening after tracking him through the county's Flock license plate camera network, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Authorities say Gillum planned to travel to a New Orleans festival and open fire on a crowd, intending to be killed by responding officers in what is known as "suicide by cop."

Deputies recovered a handgun and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition from his hotel room. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety charged him with terroristic threats, and he is being held at the Okaloosa County Jail pending extradition, the outlet reported.

New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno praised the multistate response in a statement. "I want to recognize the tremendous coordinated and swift work by the New Orleans FBI, Louisiana State Police, NOPD, NOCEM and Governor," Moreno said, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. "The safety of our residents and visitors will always be my top priority."

Gillum's ties to Orange County are recent. He worked for the Orange County Sheriff's Office as a detention officer from October 2023 to July 2024, then returned as a sworn deputy from January to September 2025, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

Before his time in Orange County, Gillum served as a Chapel Hill, North Carolina police officer from 2004 to 2019. He rejoined that department as a nonsworn employee in 2024 before departing later that year, the outlet reported. The investigation drew on coordination among law enforcement agencies across North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana.

Gillum remains in Okaloosa County custody pending extradition to Louisiana, where he faces the terroristic threats charge filed by the state Department of Public Safety.