Edgar Maddison Welch, the man behind the infamous 2016 “Pizzagate” shooting, was fatally shot by North Carolina police on Saturday night during a routine traffic stop, reported the local media.
Welch’s name became notorious nearly a decade ago after he fired a gun inside Comet Ping Pong, a Washington, DC, pizzeria falsely implicated in a conspiracy theory alleging prominent Democrats were running a child sex trafficking ring.
According to a Kannapolis Police Department news release, the incident unfolded in Kannapolis, North Carolina, where police stopped a vehicle connected to someone with an outstanding felony warrant. Welch, a passenger in the car, drew a handgun and aimed it at officers as they approached. Despite repeated orders to drop the weapon, Welch refused. Two officers opened fire, striking him. He was hospitalised and died two days later.
In the “Pizzagate” case, Welch had driven to Washington armed with an assault rifle, intent on investigating the baseless claims circulating online during the 2016 presidential election. Inside the restaurant, he fired at a locked closet, convinced it concealed evidence of the conspiracy. No one was injured, and Welch surrendered peacefully after realising the claims were false. He was sentenced to four years in prison in 2017 and released in 2020.
The shooting death of Welch is under review by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The officers involved are on administrative leave, following protocol, police said.
