Raleigh, NC. — A U.S. Magistrate Judge signed a federal criminal complaint on December 27, 2025, charging Willie Edward McGee, Jr. with armed bank robbery and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said McGee threatened civilians with explosives and then opened fire on responding officers. “That is not desperation, it is domestic terror,” Blanche said, adding that the defendant is in custody and faces decades in federal prison.
The complaint alleges McGee entered a First Citizens Bank branch in Zebulon on December 26, 2025, demanded money under the threat of detonating C-4, and fled with $3,234. Surveillance video showed him leaving the scene in a semi-truck.
Later that day, officers with the Rocky Mount Police Department located the truck in a shopping-center parking lot in Rocky Mount. Investigators say McGee exited the vehicle armed with a Ruger AR-style 5.56 rifle and immediately fired at officers. Police returned fire, striking McGee, who was then taken into custody. Authorities recovered the rifle used in the shooting and a handgun from McGee’s waistband.
No officers or members of the public were injured. Bomb technicians from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation responded and confirmed no explosive devices were present.
U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle for the Eastern District of North Carolina said federal prosecutors intend to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt and praised the officers who responded. FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. also commended local police for the swift arrest.
If convicted, McGee faces up to 20 years in prison on the bank robbery charge and a mandatory minimum of 10 years, consecutive, for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities ask anyone with information to contact the FBI at (704) 672-6100.
A criminal complaint is an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
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