A shooter targeted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Atlanta-based headquarters on August 8. He fired more than 500 shots, shattering 150 windows among six buildings. The shooting killed DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, according to news reports. No CDC employees were physically injured.
The incident started around 5 p.m. The shooter, identified as 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White of Kennesaw, Georgia, had been stopped by CDC security guards before driving to a CVS pharmacy across the street, where he opened fire from a sidewalk, authorities said. The bullets pierced “blast-resistant” windows across the Roybal Campus. More than 500 shell casings have been recovered from the crime scene, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) official said.
On August 8, a shooter targeted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters in Atlanta, investigators said, leaving the glass and metal exteriors cracked and damaged with bullet holes. No CDC employees were injured.
An active shooter alert was issued and CDC employees sheltered in place for hours, Dr. Casey Barton Behravesh, director of the CDC’s One Health Office wrote in a LinkedIn post.
White died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene.
Documents found in a search of the home where White lived with his parents “expressed the shooter’s discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinations,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said at a press conference on August 12.
When reached for comment, Dr. Michael Bailey, AVMA president, said, “On behalf of the AVMA, we extend our deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of David Rose, the DeKalb County police officer who was killed while responding to the shooting. A former Marine, Officer Rose’s service, courage, and sacrifice will never be forgotten. We also express our heartfelt support for those impacted by this situation, including the more than 100 veterinarians who work at the CDC. Public service veterinarians, including those in government roles, make critical contributions to public health and our profession and the AVMA is here to support them.”
On August 11, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. toured the campus, along with HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and CDC Director Susan Monarez, according to an HHS press release.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the life of officer David Rose. We stand with his wife and three children and the entire CDC family,” Kennedy said in an X post.
Most CDC personnel assigned to Roybal Campus are working remotely this week and additional safety and security measures are being put in place ahead of their return, the CDC press release stated. When asked for further comment, Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for HHS, referred questions to the GBI.