The 30-year-old shooter additionally tried to get into the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta however was stopped by guards earlier than driving to a pharmacy throughout the road and opening hearth late Friday (August 8, 2025) afternoon, the official stated. He was armed with 5 weapons, together with at the least one lengthy gun, the official stated, talking on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t authorised to publicly focus on the investigation.
DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was mortally wounded whereas responding.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose scepticism of vaccines has been a cornerstone of his profession, voiced help for CDC staff Saturday (August 9, 2025). But some laid-off CDC staff stated Mr. Kennedy shares accountability for the violence and will resign.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation named Patrick Joseph White because the shooter, however authorities haven’t stated whether or not he was killed by police or killed himself.
The suspect’s father contacted police and recognized his son because the doable shooter, the regulation enforcement official advised AP. The father stated his son had been upset over the dying of the son’s canine, and he had additionally change into fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine, in keeping with the official. The household lives in Kennesaw, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb about 40km northwest of CDC headquarters.
A voicemail left at a cellphone quantity listed publicly for White’s household wasn’t returned Saturday (August 9, 2025).
The taking pictures left gaping bullet holes in home windows throughout the CDC campus, the place 1000’s work on important illness analysis. Employees huddled beneath lockdown for hours whereas investigators gathered proof. Staff was inspired to do business from home Monday (August 11, 2025) or take go away.
At least 4 CDC buildings have been hit, Director Susan Monarez stated on X.
Sam Atkins, who lives in Stone Mountain, stated exterior the CVS pharmacy on Saturday (August 9, 2025) that gun violence seems like “a reality of life” now. “This is an on a regular basis factor that occurs right here in Georgia.”
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic taking pictures at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the lifetime of officer David Rose,” Mr. Kennedy stated Saturday (August 9, 2025). “We know the way shaken our public well being colleagues really feel at the moment. No one ought to face violence whereas working to guard the well being of others.”
Some rejected the expressions of solidarity Mr. Kennedy made in a “Dear colleagues” e mail, and referred to as for his resignation.
“Kennedy is instantly answerable for the villainization of CDC’s workforce by means of his steady lies about science and vaccine security, which have fuelled a local weather of hostility and distrust,” stated Fired But Fighting, a gaggle of laid-off staff opposing modifications to the CDC by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Under Mr. Kennedy, CDC has laid off almost 2,000 staff. Mr. Trump proposes chopping the company’s price range in half subsequent 12 months, transferring some CDC capabilities into a brand new Administration for a Healthy America. Mr. Kennedy has a historical past as a frontrunner within the anti-vaccine motion, however he reached new prominence by spreading mistrust of COVID-19 vaccines. For instance, he referred to as it “prison medical malpractice” to offer COVID-19 vaccines to kids.
Mr. Kennedy parlayed that focus right into a presidential bid and endorsement of Mr. Trump, resulting in Mr. Trump naming him secretary. Mr. Kennedy continues to undercut the scientific consensus for vaccines, ordering $500 million minimize from vaccine improvement funding on Tuesday.
Fired But Fighting additionally referred to as for the resignation of Russell Vought, noting a video recorded earlier than Mr. Trump appointed him Office of Management and Budget director with orders to dismantle a lot of the federal authorities.
“We need the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” Mr. Vought stated within the video, obtained by ProPublica and the analysis group Documented. “When they get up within the morning, we would like them to not wish to go to work, as a result of they’re more and more considered because the villains.”
A request for remark from Mr. Vought’s company wasn’t returned.
This taking pictures was the “bodily embodiment of the narrative that has taken over, attacking science, and attacking our federal employees,” stated Sarah Boim, a former CDC communications staffer who was fired this 12 months throughout a wave of terminations.
A neighbour of White advised The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White spoke along with her a number of occasions about his mistrust of COVID-19 vaccines.
Nancy Hoalst, who lives on the identical road as White’s household, stated he appeared like a “good man” whereas doing yard work and strolling canine for neighbours, however he would convey up vaccines even in unrelated conversations.
“He was very unsettled, and he very deeply believed that vaccines damage him and have been hurting different individuals.” Hoalst advised the Atlanta newspaper. “He emphatically believed that.”
But Hoalst stated she by no means believed White can be violent: “I had no concept he thought he would take it out on the CDC.”
Rose, 33, was a former Marine who served in Afghanistan, graduated from the police academy in March and “rapidly earned the respect of his colleagues for his dedication, braveness and professionalism,” DeKalb County stated.
“This night, there’s a spouse with no husband. There are three kids, one unborn, with no father,” DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson stated.
Senior CDC management advised some workers Saturday (August 9, 2025) that they might do a full safety evaluation following the taking pictures, in keeping with a convention name recording obtained by the AP.
One staffer stated individuals felt like “sitting geese” Friday (August 8, 2025). Another requested whether or not directors had spoken with mR. Kennedy and if they might converse to “the misinformation, the disinformation” that “brought about this situation.”
It is obvious CDC leaders worry staff might proceed to be focused. In a Saturday (August 9, 2025) e mail obtained by the AP, CDC’s safety workplace requested staff to scrape previous CDC parking decals off their automobiles. The workplace stated decals haven’t been required for a while.
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