THE conspiracy theorist famous for his “Pizzagate” gun attack has been shot and killed by cops during a traffic stop.

Edgar Maddison Welch made headlines in 2016 after he fired a rifle inside a pizza parlour over fake claims Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring out of it.

Welch, 36, served four years in prison after his shock attack at the Comet Ping Pong restaurant in Washington D.C. nine years ago.

Police gunned down the conspiracy theorist on January 4 in Kannapolis, North Carolina, cops revealed in a statement.

Welch’s car was pulled over after an officer recognized his gray 2001 GMC Yukon as it was “normally driven by an individual who he had previously arrested, and knew had an outstanding warrant for arrest”.

Cops confirmed a warrant was out for Welch’s arrest, but the situation escalated after an officer opened his car door.

The conspiracy theorist “pulled a handgun from his jacket” pointing it at the cop who initiated the traffic stop.

After ignoring several demands from the police, two officers fired their weapons at him.

Welch was rushed to hospital and died from his injuries two days later on January 6.

The three cops involved in the traffic stop and two other people travelling with Welch in the GMC Yukon are all uninjured following the fatal shooting.

The Kannapolis Police Department confirmed an external law enforcement agency would investigate the shock incident to ensure “there is no bias”.

COOKING UP A CONSPIRACY

Welch, 28 at the time, launched the Pizzagate conspiracy to mainstream fame after he walked into the restaurant armed with a rifle on December 4, 2016.

He allegedly walked into the pizza parlour, after driving from North Carolina, and pointed the rifle at an employee, who managed to flee.

Welch later fired the weapon but nobody was injured.

He was arrested by cops at the scene of the crime and later pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon.

The vigilante claimed he was going to launch his own so-called investigation into the conspiracy that originated on 4chan.

It was based on emails hacked from the Democratic Party and published by Wikileaks.

It claimed that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign manager, John Podesta, ran a child sex ring at Comet Ping Pong in Washington.

The restaurant’s owner, James Alefantis, a Democratic Party donor, appears in the emails in relation to organising a Democratic fundraiser.

Conspiracy theorists on 4chan and Reddit claimed that words in the emails – such as cheese and pizza – were code for young children and sex acts.