‘Pizzagate’ gunman killed in confrontation with US police

A man in North Carolina who fired a rifle inside a Washington restaurant in 2016 because he wrongly believed an internet conspiracy known as Pizzagate was fatally shot by police on Jan 4, when he pulled out a gun during a traffic stop, the authorities said.

The man, Edgar Maddison Welch, 36, of Salisbury, North Carolina, was a passenger in a car when an officer with the Kannapolis Police Department recognised him from a prior arrest and believed there was an outstanding warrant over a felony probation violation, Chief Terry L. Spry of the Kannapolis Police Department said in a statement on Jan 9.

When the officer confirmed his beliefs and went to arrest him, Welch pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officer, the police said.

The police officer and a second officer ordered Welch to put his gun down.

When he did not comply, they shot at him, the department said. Welch died on Jan 6 at a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a result of his injuries. Neither of the officers or any of the other passengers in the car were injured, Chief Spry said.

Ms Annette Privette Keller, director of communications for the city of Kannapolis, about 48km north-east of Charlotte, said that the city believed the man who was killed was the same person who was sentenced to four years in prison for the Pizzagate episode. He shared the same name, place of residence and age.

The shooting at Comet Ping Pong, a pizza parlor in Washington, came amid a frenzy of false online rumours and accusations during the 2016 presidential campaign that the restaurant was holding children as sex slaves as part of a child abuse ring led by Mrs Hillary Clinton. The conspiracy theory was started after people misinterpreted e-mails from the account of Mr John Podesta, the chair of Clinton’s campaign, that were released by WikiLeaks.

On Dec 4, 2016, Welch, who went by Maddison, drove six hours from Salisbury to Comet Ping Pong in north-west Washington to investigate the claims.

He brought several guns with him and, shortly after he arrived at the restaurant, fired an assault-like AR-15 rifle inside the restaurant. No one was harmed in the shooting, and Welch surrendered to the police. He later pleaded guilty in federal court to gun charges and received a four-year prison term.

In an interview with The New York Times shortly after the shooting, Welch admitted that “the intel on this wasn’t 100 per cent”.

He was described in the article as being soft-spoken and polite, and he mentioned that he liked the outdoors. He also said he did not believe in conspiracy theories but said the Sept 11, 2001, attacks needed to be reexamined.

In the interview with the Times, Welch expressed remorse for his actions.

“I regret how I handled the situation,” he said.

On Jan 9, a Facebook user named Terri Tadlock Welch, who purported to be a parent of Edgar Welch, posted that he “had some struggles” in his life but would be remembered for being “the most generous, loving, compassionate soul, full of life & laughter”.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is continuing to investigate the shooting that resulted in Welch’s death.

The two officers who fired their guns are on administrative leave as part of standard protocol, Chief Spry’s statement said. NYTIMES