Christopher Antonio Gilmore, 34, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after being convicted of armed bank robbery in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to court records and evidence presented during sentencing, Gilmore entered a First Citizen’s Bank in Raleigh wearing sunglasses and a mask while carrying a loaded firearm. Upon entering the bank, he fired a shot that struck a cabinet outside the manager’s office. The manager was inside at the time but was unharmed as the cabinet stopped the bullet.
Gilmore then pointed his gun at two tellers and ordered them to fill his backpack with more than $20,000 in cash, which also included a GPS tracker. He forced the tellers to lie down behind the counter and shouted, “Everybody get in the back! Heads down or I’ll start shooting again!” He also ordered the manager out of her office to join the others on the floor. Unbeknownst to Gilmore, another employee hiding in the breakroom called 911.
Raleigh Police Department officers apprehended Gilmore minutes later at a nearby tire shop. At the time of arrest, officers recovered both the stolen firearm used during the robbery and the backpack containing cash and a high-capacity magazine.
Gilmore has an extensive criminal record spanning ten years. His prior convictions include attempted identity theft in 2015; breaking and entering and larceny in 2019; as well as assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, discharging a weapon into an occupied property, and possession of a firearm by a felon in 2023.
Reid Davis, FBI Special Agent in Charge for North Carolina, stated: “The violent nature of Mr. Gilmore’s actions are reprehensible. To barge into a bank where people are conducting business or accessing their own hard-earned money and endanger their lives is ruthless, reckless, and justifies a long federal prison sentence.”
The case was announced by Ellis Boyle, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. It was prosecuted by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Aubart along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Dixon and Jaren Kelly. The investigation involved both the FBI’s Raleigh Durham Safe Streets Task Force and Raleigh Police Department.
