'Pizzagate' Gunman Killed By Police In North Carolina After Traffic Stop

Edgar Maddison Welch was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by officers in Kannapolis.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) — A man who fired a gun inside a restaurant in the nation's capital nearly a decade ago was killed by North Carolina police. This happened during a traffic stop on Saturday night.

Edgar Maddison Welch was in a car stopped by police in Kannapolis. One officer recognized the car and knew Welch had an outstanding warrant. This was for a felony probation violation, police said.

When officers approached the car, Welch pulled out a handgun and pointed it at one of them. He was told to drop the weapon but didn't. Two officers then shot Welch, authorities said.

Welch was taken to the hospital and died two days later. None of the officers or the other passengers were hurt.

In 2016, Welch drove from North Carolina with an assault rifle to Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington. He believed a false conspiracy theory that Democrats were running a child sex trafficking ring from the pizzeria. This theory, called “Pizzagate,” started online during the 2016 presidential election.

He entered the restaurant armed and shot at a locked closet. After realizing there were no children captive, Welch surrendered. No one was hurt.

Comet Ping Pong's owner, James Alefantis, said the conspiracy theory and violence traumatized him and his staff.

Welch later pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of a firearm and assault with a dangerous weapon in 2017. His judge, now Supreme Court Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson, sentenced him to four years in prison.

City of Kannapolis communications director Annette Privette Keller confirmed the man who died was Welch, the “Pizzagate” incident's perpetrator.

The shooting death of Welch, a resident of Salisbury, is under review by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The officers who fired at him are on administrative leave, as per the department's protocol.