A MAN with an assault rifle walked into a Washington pizza store today to ‘self-investigate’ fake election campaign reports that Hillary Clinton had run a child sex ring there.

The gunman was arrested after firing at least one shot, causing panic and nearby businesses to go into lockdown.

Police reports say Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, of Maddison North Carolina had walked through the front door of Comet Ping Pong and pointed his weapon at staff.

One was able to flee and notify police.

He surrendered himself after a 45-minute stand-off.

The family restaurant was caught up in the tide of fake news that swept the United States during the recent presidential election campaign.

The restaurant owner has told media that he and his staff had been the subject of many death threats since the story began to circulate that his store had been the heart of a paedophile ring led by Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief.

Maybe Trump could tweet a condemnation of the fake news that inspired a lunatic to terrorize @cometpingpong instead of obsessing over SNL. — Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) December 5, 2016

“One person said he wanted to line us up in front of a firing squad,” one employee told the Washington Post. Another said the gunman was looking for tunnels to secret rooms where children were supposedly hidden and tortured.

The false scandal attracted the unimaginative title of ‘pizzagate’.

“What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away,” owner James Alefantis said in a statement today.

The retired general selected by US President-elect Donald Trump as his National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, was one of several senior Republicans who circulated the story on social media.

The FBI and police have since instructed the completely unsubstantiated story be removed from sites such as Facebook and Reddit.