North Carolina police kill ‘Pizzagate’ gunman – DW – 01/10/2025

A man notorious for firing his gun inside a pizzeria in the US capital was shot dead by police in the state of North Carolina, US media reported late Thursday.

The dead man was caught up in the Pizzagate conspiracy – falsely suggesting that former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and other top members of the US Democratic Party were running pedophilia from the eatery.

What we know about the latest incident

US news outlets said the North Carolina man was killed in a police shooting during a traffic stop.

The man who died two days after the shooting last Saturday was identified as Edgar Madison Welch, who became obsessed with the bizarre “Pizzagate” conspiracy.

Police in the city of Kannapolis stopped a car they believed Welch was driving—a passenger in the vehicle who was known to have an outstanding warrant against him for a felony probation violation.

As police tried to open the car and arrest him, Welch allegedly pulled a gun and refused orders to drop the weapon. Two officers then shot him, causing injuries that later proved fatal.

How is Welch connected to ‘Pizzagate’?

Welch was arrested in December 2016 after firing his assault rifle inside the Comet Ping Pong Pizza restaurant.

He told the police that he was in the capital to personally investigate allegations that Comet was a center for child abduction.

The claim was an early expression of the conspiracy theories that gained popularity among far-right conservatives and followers of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Welch, who was 29 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2017 and released in March 2020.

When he was sentenced, the US attorney’s office stated that the judge declared that it was due to “mere luck” that no one was injured or killed.

rc/lo (AFP, AP)