RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — A North Carolina truck driver has been federally charged after investigators said he robbed a First Citizens Bank in Zebulon, fled in a semi-truck, and later exchanged gunfire with officers in Rocky Mount after police located the truck.

Federal authorities said Willie Edward McGee Jr., 42, of Rocky Mount faces federal charges of armed bank robbery and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence under a criminal complaint signed by a United States magistrate judge.

Investigators said the robbery happened on Friday, Dec. 26, at approximately 11:38 a.m. at First Citizens Bank in Zebulon, near the busy United States Highway 64 interchange with North Carolina Highway 96. The complaint alleges McGee entered the bank, demanded money from a teller, and claimed he had C-4 explosives. Authorities said the teller gave McGee $3,234, and he fled the bank.

Officials said investigators determined McGee’s semi-truck was parked near a Little Caesars in an adjacent shopping center, and surveillance footage depicted him leaving the robbery area in the semi-truck.

Later that afternoon, at approximately 4:15 p.m., officers with the Rocky Mount Police Department located the semi-truck in the parking lot of a Hobby Lobby on Sutters Creek Parkway in Rocky Mount, near the intersection of United States Highway 64 and United States Highway 301. Authorities said officers were monitoring the truck when McGee exited the vehicle armed with a Ruger AR-556 rifle and began firing at officers. Officers returned fire and struck McGee, and he was hospitalized for treatment. Authorities said no law enforcement officers or civilians were injured during the exchange.

^{Photo credit: U.S. Department of justice}

Officials said officers recovered the Ruger AR-556 rifle and also recovered a handgun from McGee’s waistband. Bomb technicians from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation responded, secured the scene, and confirmed no explosives were present. The federal complaint stated that items worn by or used by McGee during the robbery were later recovered from the semi-truck.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche described the case as “domestic terror” and said McGee “threatened innocent civilians with explosives and then opened fire on police officers.” United States Attorney Ellis Boyle for the Eastern District of North Carolina said federal charges would be pursued and noted that no officers were injured.

If convicted, authorities said McGee faces up to 20 years in prison for the armed bank robbery charge and a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, to run consecutively, for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Officials also emphasized that a criminal complaint is an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Rocky Mount police said McGee will also be charged locally with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm, and one count of discharging a weapon to incite fear.

Agencies involved in the investigation include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Zebulon Police Department, and the Rocky Mount Police Department. Prosecutors listed in the case include Assistant United States Attorneys Aria Merle, Charles Loeser, and Tyler Lemons.

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information about the alleged crimes is asked to contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 704-672-6100.

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