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The gunman involved in the 2016 “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory attack on a Washington DC pizza restaurant that was mistakenly thought to be at the center of a pedophile ring has died after being shot by police in North Carolina during a traffic stop.
In a news release issued on Thursday, North Carolina’s Kannapolis police department announced that Edgar Maddison Welch died from his wounds caused by two police officers who fired at him after he pulled out a handgun during a traffic stop on Saturday.
In 2016, Welch made headlines when he drove from his North Carolina home and stormed into the Washington DC-based Comet Ping Pong restaurant, where he fired an assault rifle inside. Although no injuries were reported, two weapons were found inside the restaurant and another one was recovered from Welch’s vehicle, police said at the time.
According to police, Welch had come to the restaurant to “self-investigate” “Pizzagate”, a baseless conspiracy theory that falsely claimed that Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief John Podesta were operating an underground child sex-trafficking ring from the restaurant’s backrooms.
In 2017, Welch pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and interstate transport of a firearm. In a later interview with the New York Times, Welch expressed regret towards his actions, saying: “I just wanted to do some good and went about it the wrong way … I regret how I handled the situation.”
According to the police news release, at around 10pm last Saturday, a Kannapolis police officer was patrolling North Cannon Boulevard and when he noticed a gray 2001 GMC Yukon car.
“The officer recognized the vehicle as one normally driven by an individual who he had previously arrested, and knew had an outstanding warrant for arrest,” the release said, adding that the arrest warrant was for a felony probation violation.
It went on to add that the officer stopped the car and during his interaction with the driver, the officer recognized the front seat passenger as the person with the outstanding arrest warrant.
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“While the officer was speaking with the driver, two additional Kannapolis officers arrived at the traffic stop to assist. The officer who initiated the traffic stop approached the passenger side of the vehicle and opened the front passenger’s door to arrest the individual,” the news release said.
As the officer opened the car door, Welch pulled a handgun from his jacket and pointed it at him, police said.
According to the news release, the officer and a second officer who was standing at the rear side of the car ordered Welch to drop the weapon. However, after Welch “failed to comply with their repeated requests, both officers fired their duty weapon at the passenger, striking him”.
Welch was transported to the hospital but died from his wounds two days later. The officers who fired their guns have been identified as Brooks Jones and Caleb Tate in the news release.
The investigation remains under way by the state’s bureau of investigation and Jones and Tate have been placed on administrative leave.
