The man who showed up at a popular Washington, D.C., pizzeria with an automatic weapon after falling for a debunked online conspiracy involving allegations of child sex trafficking has been shot to death in a traffic stop in North Carolina .
Edgar Maddison Welch, 36, died during a confrontation with police in Kannapolis on Jan. 4, according to a statement from the Kannapolis Police Department. It began at around 10 a.m. on North Cannon Boulevard in Kannapolis, a city around 30 miles northeast of Charlotte, when a police officer on patrol recognized a gray 2001 GMC Yukon “as one normally driven by an individual who he had previously arrested, and knew had an outstanding warrant for arrest.”
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That individual, Welch, was wanted for “Felony Probation Violation,” the statement said. It is unclear whether that probation violation is in connection with the 4-year prison sentence he was ordered to serve for his Dec. 4, 2016, attack on Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington, D.C. On that day, Welch brought a loaded AR-15, a revolver, and a shotgun to the Comet Ping Pong restaurant — which had become a target in the so-called “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory — on Connecticut Avenue in the nation’s capital. After arriving at the restaurant, an armed Welch went inside while “carrying the AR-15 openly,” causing employees and customers, including children, to flee.
Although Welch was apparently not behind the wheel at the time of the traffic stop in North Carolina, the officer soon realized that he was in the front passenger seat. While the officer was talking to the driver, Kannapolis police say, two other officers arrived on the scene to assist…