An evangelical pastor was arrested in Las Vegas on drug and gun-related charges after counter-terrorism police were called to his hotel room.
David McGee, 61, senior pastor at the closed The Bridge Fellowship, outside Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was arrested on August 20 at the Strat Hotel Casino & Tower.
Drug and counter-terrorism detectives responded to the hotel after McGee reported a piece of property missing, according to documents obtained by KLAS.
McGee told police he was visiting Las Vegas from North Carolina and had arrived in a private jet to find his missing daughter. When asked if he had any weapons in the room, he reportedly told officers that he had a gun stashed in his guitar case.
Hotel employees had previously warned McGee about their firearms policy after he allegedly brought a shotgun to his room days earlier, KLAS reported.
The presence of firearms, which included an AR-15 with a scope, prompted responding officers to suspect McGee was planning a shooting similar to that which occurred in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, documents said.
During that incident, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on the crowd attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip from his suite in the Mandalay Bay hotel. Paddock fired more than 1,000 rounds, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413, before turning the gun on himself.
Since the 2017 mass shooting, Metro police said they have investigated “suspicious situations where multiple firearms are located inside hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.”
However, the force sent out a news release on the day of McGee’s arrest saying that reports of a “terror plot” were false.
As well as the weapons, officers found suspected fentanyl pills and powder, LVMPD 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,” KLAS reported, per arrest documents. “McGee stated that he was a user of fentanyl and intended to distribute the fentanyl to his daughter when he locate[d] her.”
Prior to his arrest McGee posted on a public Facebook page that he was traveling to Las Vegas to find his daughter who he believed was living in a flood control tunnel.
Though he has not posted since that time, a post on his behalf on August 29 stated he had been in touch with their daughter and that he was “asking for prayers for his health, wisdom, safety [and] discernment.”
According to KLAS, McGee did not appear for his probable cause hearing in Las Vegas Justice Court on August 21 due to medical issues.
McGee is reportedly due to return to court on December 19.
