Pizza shop targeted by conspiracy theory gunman tries to crowdfund security costs

WASHINGTON — Comet Ping Pong has started a GoFundMe campaign to crowdsource some of the cost of security.

The pizza shop was targeted after a fake news story went viral before last month's presidential election, Time reported.

The story claimed that the restaurant was the center of a child sex ring, alleging that children were being held against their will in a back room of the establishment.

Sunday, a North Carolina man traveled to Washington, D.C. to "investigate" the claims, WRC reported.

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Edgar Welch fired a rifle inside the business. No one was wounded. He surrendered to law enforcement when he found nothing to substantiate the fake news report.

Comet Ping Pong started the GoFundMe page to offset the cost of security, pay for lost pay of the store's employees and repairs to the building.

Owners are looking to raise $28,000.

Welch is scheduled to appear in front of a judge next week.

He said he regrets how he handled his "investigation" but did not deny the false news story.

Welch told The New York Times, "I just wanted to do some good and went about it the wrong way."

He said he planned to give the restaurant a "closer look," but said he felt his "heart breaking over the thought of innocent people suffering."

Welch discovered no children inside the building, and couldn't explain why he brought an AR-15 into Comet Ping Pong, WRC reported.

Cox Media Group