LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas Metro police detained an evangelical preacher for allegedly having guns and narcotics in a hotel room, triggering a counter-terrorism response, according to 8 News Now investigators.
David McGee, 61, faces drug and gun charges stemming from his arrest on August 20 at the Strat Hotel Casino & Tower, according to records. McGee was the senior pastor of The Bridge Fellowship, which closed near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Though the structure closed in 2023, the Christian ministry continues online and through radio programs.
According to records, drug and counter-terrorism officers arrived at the hotel on August 20 after McGee reported a lost piece of property. McGee claimed officers he was visiting Las Vegas from North Carolina and had arrived by private aircraft to find his daughter.
When cops questioned McGee if he had any weapons in his room, he allegedly responded, “Yes, I have a gun in my guitar case,” according to records. Hotel officials had already told McGee about the policy after he allegedly brought a shotgun to his room many days before.
According to records, the finding of the weaponry, including an AR-15 with a scope, led responding officers to assume McGee was plotting a shooting similar to the one on October 1. Since the 2017 mass shooting, Metro police have investigated “suspicious situations where multiple firearms are located inside hotels on the Las Vegas Strip,” according to officials.
On the day of McGee’s arrest, social media posts falsely attributed police’s response to the hotel to a thwarted terror plan. Metro police issued a news release stating that the report was untrue.
Police discovered suspected fentanyl pills and powder in the hotel room, according to reports.
“McGee advised [the detective] that he brought the fentanyl from North Carolina on his private jet to Las Vegas and paid approximately $1,000,” according to the paperwork. “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 leading up to his trip to Las Vegas, McGee announced on a public Facebook page that he was heading to find his daughter, whom he claimed was residing in a flood control tunnel.
“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,” McGee shared on Facebook. On August 19, the day before his arrest, McGee posted a photo of himself in front of the Strat.
McGee hasn’t posted since August 20. According to documents, he failed to attend for his probable cause hearing in Las Vegas Justice Court on August 21 due to medical records. A court did not set a bond in the case because prosecutors had not filed a criminal complaint. McGee was scheduled to return to court on December 19.
On August 29, McGee’s wife wrote on his behalf, stating that he had contacted their daughter and was “asking for prayers for his health, wisdom, safety [and] discernment.”
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 50–100 times more powerful than morphine. Only a few grains can kill a person.
When Metro officers brought McGee to the Clark County Detention Center, they did not take his booking photo. Investigators from 8 News Now have frequently sought to contact McGee and his wife for comment.
In a 2015 Facebook post, a couple told 8 News Now’s Winston-Salem-area sister station that McGee had barred them from the church.
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