A federal standoff involving a semi-truck, a threat of C-4 explosives, and an AR-15 rifle ended in gunfire outside a hobby store this week, leaving a bank robbery suspect wounded and facing decades in prison.
Federal authorities charged Willie Edward Mcgee, Jr. on December 27 with bank robbery and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The charges stem from a chaotic 24-hour spree that began at a bank in Zebulon and ended in a shootout with police in a Rocky Mount parking lot.
According to the criminal complaint, the incident began the day after Christmas. On December 26, Mcgee allegedly entered a First Citizens Bank in Zebulon and demanded cash, claiming he was armed with C-4 explosives. The teller handed over $3,234, and Mcgee fled the scene in an unusual getaway vehicle: a semi-truck.
Police tracked the rig to a Hobby Lobby parking lot in Rocky Mount later that day. When officers set up surveillance on the vehicle, the situation escalated rapidly. Investigators say Mcgee exited the truck armed with a Ruger AR-5.56 rifle and immediately opened fire on the officers…