‘Pizzagate’ Gunman Killed by Police in North Carolina

Edgar Maddison Welch, the “Pizzagate” gunman and conspiracy theorist who fired shots in a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor in 2016, died on Monday after North Carolina police fatally shot him when he pulled a gun on officers, the Kannapolis Police Department (KPD) announced Thursday.

Welch, 36, who was acting on a debunked conspiracy theory nine years ago, was shot during a police traffic stop over the weekend and succumbed to his injuries two days later, KPD said.

Why It Matters

Welch made headlines nearly a decade ago when he walked into Comet Ping Pong with an AR-15 rifle and a revolver and fired inside the restaurant. He was an avid QAnon follower and believed, without evidence, that the pizza shop was home to a pedophile sex-trafficking ring.

Police said at the time that Welch had gone to the restaurant to “self-investigate” the conspiracy theory. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to assault with a dangerous weapon and interstate transport of a firearm.

What To Know

KPD said Welch was shot on Sunday night after an officer recognized his car, a gray 2001 GMC Yukon. Welch’s car was recognized by the officer, KPD said, because it was “one normally driven by an individual who he had previously arrested, and knew had an outstanding warrant for arrest.”

The officer stopped Welch’s car and while he was speaking with him, two more police officers arrived to help, authorities said.

“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,” police said. “When he opened the door, the front seat passenger pulled a handgun from his jacket and pointed it in the direction of the officer. That officer and a second officer who was standing at the rear passenger side of the Yukon gave commands for the passenger to drop the gun.”

“After the passenger failed to comply with their repeated requests, both officers fired their duty weapon at the passenger, striking him,” KPD said.

Police said they immediately called for medical assistance and that Welch was taken to a hospital in Concord, North Carolina, before later being transferred to one in Charlotte, “where he succumbed to his injuries on January 6, 2025.”

“The three officers on the traffic stop, along with the driver and a back seat passenger of the Yukon were all uninjured in this incident,” KPD said.

What People Are Saying

CNN reporter Jim Sciutto wrote on X: “He was an early canary in the coal mine of the danger of conspiracy theories – and the pizzagate one has not disappeared.”

What Happens Next

KPD said the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is conducting an “on-going” inquiry into Welch’s death. It added that “the officers who fired their duty weapon remain on administrative leave as is standard protocol.”

Update 01/09/25 9:24 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.