KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The suspect who was killed by police officers in Kannapolis this week was the same man who was convicted of firing an assault rifle at a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant in 2016.
Kannapolis Police say Salisbury resident Edgar Maddison Welch was wanted for felony probation violation when an officer spotted his vehicle Saturday night, Jan. 4. When the officer opened, Welch pulled a handgun and pointed it at the officer. After allegedly being told to drop the gun and not complying, officers shot him, and he died Monday at a local hospital.
In 2017, Welch was sentenced to four years in prison from an incident that became known as “Pizzagate.” He pled guilty to a to a federal charge of interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition, and a D.C. charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, now on the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to Department of Justice documents, in December 2016, Welch transported firearms that included a 9mm AR-15 assault rifle loaded with approximately 29 rounds of ammunition, a fully-loaded, six-shot, .38-caliber revolver, and a loaded shotgun with additional shotgun shells.
Documents show he drove directly to the Comet Ping Pong restaurant, and according to the government’s evidence, Welch was motivated, at least in part, by unfounded rumors concerning a child sex-trafficking ring that supposedly was being perpetrated at the establishment.
Once inside, customers and employees fled. Then Welch encountered a locked room and discharged his assault rifle multiple times into the door.
The assault rifle and revolver were recovered inside the restaurant. A shotgun also was recovered from the defendant’s car, along with a box of shotgun ammunition.
In the years following, social media companies like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter prohibited material targeting a person or group with conspiracy theories like this that have been used to justify violence.
From Pizzagate, Welch was ordered to receive a mental health assessment; and to stay away from the restaurant while on release. He aslso had to pay $5,744 in restitution for property damage he caused during the incident.
The State Bureau of Investigation is leading an investigating of the Kannapolis shooting, and Officer Brooks Jones and Officer Caleb Tate are on administrative leave.
