CDC shooter believed COVID-19 vaccine made him suicidal, his father tells police

A Georgia man who opened fireplace on the U.S. Centres for Illness Management and Prevention headquarters, capturing dozens of rounds into the sprawling advanced and killing a police officer, had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a regulation enforcement official instructed The Related Press on Saturday (August 9, 2025).

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 fireplace late Friday (August 8, 2025) afternoon, the official mentioned. He was armed with 5 weapons, together with no less than one lengthy gun, the official mentioned, 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.

Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose scepticism of vaccines has been a cornerstone of his profession, voiced help for CDC workers Saturday (August 9, 2025). However some laid-off CDC workers mentioned 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 mentioned whether or not he was killed by police or killed himself.

The suspect’s father contacted police and recognized his son because the potential shooter, the regulation enforcement official instructed AP. The daddy mentioned his son had been upset over the loss of life of the son’s canine, and he had additionally turn out to be fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine, based on the official. The household lives in Kennesaw, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb about 40km northwest of CDC headquarters.

A voicemail left at a telephone quantity listed publicly for White’s household wasn’t returned Saturday (August 9, 2025).

The capturing left gaping bullet holes in home windows throughout the CDC campus, the place 1000’s work on important illness analysis. Workers huddled beneath lockdown for hours whereas investigators gathered proof. Employees was inspired to do business from home Monday (August 11, 2025) or take go away.

No less than 4 CDC buildings have been hit, Director Susan Monarez mentioned on X.

Sam Atkins, who lives in Stone Mountain, mentioned exterior the CVS pharmacy on Saturday (August 9, 2025) that gun violence appears like “a reality of life” now. “That is an on a regular basis factor that occurs right here in Georgia.”

“We’re deeply saddened by the tragic capturing at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the lifetime of officer David Rose,” Mr. Kennedy mentioned Saturday (August 9, 2025). “We all know how shaken our public well being colleagues really feel right now. Nobody ought to face violence whereas working to guard the well being of others.”

Some rejected the expressions of solidarity Mr. Kennedy made in a “Expensive colleagues” electronic mail, and known as for his resignation.

“Kennedy is straight chargeable for the villainization of CDC’s workforce by his steady lies about science and vaccine security, which have fuelled a local weather of hostility and distrust,” mentioned Fired However Preventing, a bunch of laid-off workers opposing adjustments to the CDC by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Beneath Mr. Kennedy, CDC has laid off almost 2,000 workers. Mr. Trump proposes reducing the company’s price range in half subsequent 12 months, transferring some CDC features into a brand new Administration for a Wholesome 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 known as it “felony medical malpractice” to provide 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 reduce from vaccine growth funding on Tuesday.

Fired However Preventing additionally known as for the resignation of Russell Vought, noting a video recorded earlier than Mr. Trump appointed him Workplace of Administration and Finances director with orders to dismantle a lot of the federal authorities.

“We would like the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” Mr. Vought mentioned within the video, obtained by ProPublica and the analysis group Documented. “After they get up within the morning, we wish them to not need to go to work, as a result of they’re more and more seen because the villains.”

A request for remark from Mr. Vought’s company wasn’t returned.

This capturing was the “bodily embodiment of the narrative that has taken over, attacking science, and attacking our federal employees,” mentioned Sarah Boim, a former CDC communications staffer who was fired this 12 months throughout a wave of terminations.

A neighbour of White instructed The Atlanta Journal-Structure that White spoke along with her a number of instances about his mistrust of COVID-19 vaccines.

Nancy Hoalst, who lives on the identical road as White’s household, mentioned 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 folks.” Hoalst instructed the Atlanta newspaper. “He emphatically believed that.”

However Hoalst mentioned she by no means believed White can be violent: “I had no thought 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 “shortly earned the respect of his colleagues for his dedication, braveness and professionalism,” DeKalb County mentioned.

“This night, there’s a spouse with out a husband. There are three kids, one unborn, with out a father,” DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson mentioned.

Senior CDC management instructed some employees Saturday (August 9, 2025) that they’d do a full safety evaluation following the capturing, based on a convention name recording obtained by the AP.

One staffer mentioned folks felt like “sitting geese” Friday (August 8, 2025). One other requested whether or not directors had spoken with mR. Kennedy and if they may communicate to “the misinformation, the disinformation” that “brought about this difficulty.”

It’s clear CDC leaders worry workers might proceed to be focused. In a Saturday (August 9, 2025) electronic mail obtained by the AP, CDC’s safety workplace requested workers to scrape outdated CDC parking decals off their autos. The workplace mentioned decals haven’t been required for a while.