'Pizzagate' Shooter Killed by Police During Traffic Stop in North Carolina

'Pizzagate' Shooter Killed by Police During Traffic Stop in North Carolina

Salisbury, January 10, 2025 — A man who was influenced by a fake conspiracy theory called "Pizzagate" and fired a gun inside a restaurant in Washington, D.C., was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop in North Carolina.

The man, Edgar Maddison Welch, was involved in a confrontation with the police during a traffic stop in Kannapolis on Saturday night. According to a news release from the Kannapolis Police Department, one of the officers recognized the vehicle because he had previously seen Welch driving it. The officer knew that Welch had an outstanding felony probation violation warrant.

When the officers approached the vehicle, Welch pulled out a handgun and pointed it at one of the officers. Despite being instructed to drop the weapon, Welch did not comply, and two officers then shot him.

Welch was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries two days later. None of the officers, the driver, or the other passenger were injured.

In 2016, authorities reported that Welch had driven from North Carolina with an assault rifle to Comet Ping Pong restaurant, believing the unfounded conspiracy theory "Pizzagate," which claimed that prominent Democrats were operating a child sex trafficking ring out of the pizzeria. He entered the restaurant armed and fired at a locked closet while customers fled. Upon realizing there were no children held captive, Welch peacefully surrendered. No one was injured at the time.

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

Welch was later convicted in 2017 for interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition and assault with a dangerous weapon. His judge, now Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, sentenced him to four years in prison.

Kannapolis City Communications Director Annette Privette Keller confirmed that the man who died was the same one involved in the "Pizzagate" incident.

The shooting death of Welch is currently under review by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the officers who fired at him are on administrative leave, following the department's protocol.