Pastor is arrested in Las Vegas hotel room with stash of drugs and guns

An evangelical pastor is facing a slew of charges after a cache of drugs and guns were allegedly found in his Las Vegas hotel room. 

David McGee, 61, a senior pastor at The Bridge Fellowship in North Carolina, was arrested on August 20 at the Strat Hotel Casino & Tower following a raid from counter-terrorism police. 

The arrest came after police were called to the hotel by McGee when he reported a piece of missing property, leading to the discovery of firearms including an AR-15 with a scope, alongside fentanyl pills, police said. 

He reportedly told detectives that he was in Las Vegas to find his missing daughter whom he believed to be living in abandoned storm tunnels, and admitted he planned to give her the fentanyl pills if he found her, reports KLAS. 

According to reported arrest documents, McGee told police that he was visiting Las Vegas from North Carolina to find his daughter, and had taken a private jet to Sin City. 

David McGee, 61, a senior pastor at The Bridge Fellowship in North Carolina , was arrested August 20 at the Strat Hotel Casino & Tower after a cache of drugs and guns were allegedly found in his hotel room 

McGee (seen in an image he shared to his social media from Las Vegas) told police he was in Sin City to find his missing daughter whom he believed to be living in abandoned storm tunnels 

He told detectives when they arrived in his hotel room that he had a gun stashed in his guitar case, and hotel employees noted that they had previously warned the pastor about their firearms policy after he reportedly brought a shotgun in his room days earlier. 

But a search of his room found more than just the one firearm in his guitar case, including an AR-15 with a scope that raised eyebrows. 

The discovery of the gun and scope led to early reports that a terror plot had been foiled, as detectives initially feared McGee was planning a copycat shooting to one that occurred at a Las Vegas music festival in October 2017. 

In that shooting, gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, carried out the worst mass shooting in US history as he fired more than 1,000 rounds from his Mandalay Bay hotel room, killing 60 people and wounding at least 413. 

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said after McGees arrest that it often investigates suspicious situations where multiple firearms are located inside hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, but reports of a terror plot tied to McGee were false, reports The Independent. 

Police were called to the Strat Hotel Casino & Tower by McGee after he reported missing property, only to find items including an AR-15 with a scope and fentanyl pills 

McGee is an evangelical pastor in North Carolina, and often shared religious teachings and music to his followers on social media 

Alongside the multiple firearms found inside McGees hotel room, cops say they also found a number of fentanyl pills, that he admitted he brought from North Carolina on his private jet to Las Vegas and paid approximately $1,000, his reported arrest document said. 

McGee stated that he was a user of fentanyl and intended to distribute the fentanyl to his daughter when he located her, the document added, per KLAS. 

McGee often shares his religious teachings, and some rock music, to his followers on social media, and prior to his arrest, he had shared on Facebook his trip to Las Vegas to find his daughter. 

He said he believed she was living in the citys system of flood control tunnels, which have become extremely dangerous hubs for homeless people filled with more than 1,000 vagrants struggling for food. 

In an update posted on the day he was arrested, McGee said his daughter is out here in a mess. 

Still l must ask for prayers & maybe help finding & rescuing my daughter, he continued. 

In another update from August 29 written on McGees behalf, he said he has been in touch with Ashli (his daughter) a few times, but was struggling to keep hold of her. 

She has been evasive, sometimes leaving but returning later, even the next day. David is asking for prayers for his health, wisdom, safety, discernment... and that she will allow herself to be rescued, the post read. 

McGee said his efforts to find his daughter were only partially successful as she is out here in a mess, as he asked for prayers so that she will allow herself to be rescued 

Police reportedly feared McGee could have been plotting a copycat shooting to that of Stephen Paddock (pictured), who fired over 1,000 rounds from his hotel room in October 2017 

On his website, McGee says he is a dead-mute person, and after overcoming overwhelming physical obstacles as a child, he eventually discovered music and toured the country as a rock musician.

After an encounter with Jesus Christ, he devoted his life to revealing the life-changing Truth of the Bible, his biography reads. 

Police said McGee failed to appear for his probable cause hearing on August 2 due to medical issues, although it is unclear which medical issues he experienced. 

McGee is reportedly due to return to court on December 19.