US

Police: Fake news story led gunman to popular DC pizzeria

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, N.C., surrenders to police Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Washington. Welch, who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place, fired an assault rifle inside the restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said. (Sathi Soma via AP) (The Associated Press)

Edgar Maddison Welch, 28 of Salisbury, N.C., surrenders to police Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, in Washington. Welch, who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place, fired an assault rifle inside the restaurant on Sunday injuring no one, police and news reports said. (Sathi Soma via AP) (The Associated Press)

Police say a man who said he was investigating a conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton running a child sex ring out of a pizza place fired an assault rifle inside the Washington, D.C., restaurant Sunday.

Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Aquita (ah-KWEE'-tah) Brown says police got a call Sunday afternoon about a male with a weapon on Connecticut Avenue, in an affluent neighborhood of the nation's capital.

The Washington Post reports 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, North Carolina, walked into the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed a gun in the direction of a restaurant employee.

The employee was able to flee and notify police.

According to a police statement, Welch told police he'd come to the restaurant to "self-investigate" a fictitious conspiracy theory that spread online during Clinton's run for the White House.