THE DANGER OF FAKE NEWS It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in December 2016 in Washington DC At a pizza parlor called Comet Ping Pong customers enjoyed pizza and played games Little did they know their day was about to become very scary Shortly before 3:00 p.m. Edgar Maddison Welch entered the restaurant Welch was 28 years old He had driven to Washington from Salisbury North Carolina As he neared the bar area Welch raised an assault rifle He fired a shot toward an employee but missed Flowers and signs in support of Comet Ping Pong showed up outside the building in the days following the shooting
Edgar Maddison Welch surrenders to police after shooting up Comet Ping Pong Panic swept through the restaurant Customers and employees ran for the front door Welch continued to fire his gun Bullets ricocheted off walls a door and a computer Police arrived on the scene They arrested Welch The charge was assault with a dangerous weapon
Nobody was hurt during the incident But many were very frightened What would cause a man to enter a restaurant and open fire Welch said that he was investigating claims that he'd seen online He said he had read stories about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton She was allegedly running a child kidnapping ring out of the restaurant These stories said PAYING THE PRICE After the shooting Welch said he regretted believing the false news stories Welch was originally charged with assault with a dangerous weapon He was later charged with more crimes They included transporting a firearm across state lines On March 24 2017 Welch pleaded guilty to two of the charges He could serve up to seven years in prison children were being sold and abused by adults None of it was true Yet the story had been repeated enough that some people believed it Welch said he visited the restaurant to find out for himself His investigation quickly turned violent He surrendered to
