A prominent evangelical pastor was arrested in a Las Vegas hotel room with drugs and guns. He was taken into custody with a scoped AR-15. According to police documents, the weapon led counter-terrorism cops to fear he planned a mass attack similar to the deadliest attack in US History. David McGee, 61, is the senior pastor at the Bridge Fellowship in North Carolina, which is now closed.
Initially, the pastor called 911 to report a missing item from his room. When officers arrived at the Strat Hotel Casino & Tower, they asked the pastor if he was armed. McGee replied “Yes, I have a gun in my guitar case,” according to court filings. The embattled preacher said he flew his private jet to Vegas to look for his then-missing daughter. He claimed his daughter was missing in a set of storm tunnels under the city.
McGee had already been warned about the hotel’s stringent policy banning weapons when he was caught carrying a shotgun into his hotel room. After a search, counter-terrorism officers found several weapons in his room. Including an AR-15 with a scope that stoked fears, he was planning a mass attack. Hotels in Vegas are on high alert for firearms in their rooms
Many of the policies were put in place after a mass casualty event in which Stephen Paddock killed 60 and injured more than 400 people. He committed the massacre from a Vegas hotel room. It was revealed later that Paddock had carried hundreds of pounds of munitions into his hotel room without being observed. Despite these concerns, the police held a press release to confirm the rumors of the foiled terror plot were untrue. The document shows the pastor was allegedly found with fentanyl, in both pills and powdered form.
Police said, “McGee advised [the detective] that he brought the fentanyl from North Carolina on his private jet to Las Vegas and paid approximately $1,000.” They added, “McGee stated that he was a user of fentanyl and intended to distribute the fentanyl to his daughter when he locates her.” In the days before his ill-fated trip to Vegas, McGee made a post to his Facebook.
He wrote that he was traveling from North Carolina to Vegas to find his daughter. He surmised she was living in a drainage tunnel. The pastor posted, “Pls [sic] pray for me as I go get my daughter from the worst [and] scariest place for my daughter in America… the Las Vegas tunnels.” He has not made any social media posts since his arrest.
On Aug 29, 2024, his wife shared an update on her husband. She explained he had been in touch with their daughter and was “asking for prayers for his health, wisdom, safety [and] discernment. The pastor could not be reached for comment. Court documents show that McGee did not appear for his probable cause hearing on Aug. 21 due to medical problems.
No bail has been set, as prosecutors have not filed charges. He will return to court on Dec. 19. According to his website, “Pastor David McGee was born in Greensboro, NC and is the youngest of three sons. He was born 95% deaf and mute. The Lord graciously healed David through nine different surgeries! He is a living testimony to the grace and mercy of our Lord.”