Atlanta CDC gunman believed Covid vaccine made him suicidal, official says

A Georgia man who opened fire on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta on Friday, shooting dozens of rounds into four buildings and killing a police officer, had blamed a Covid-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Saturday.The 30-year-old gunman, identified by the Georgia bureau of investigation as Patrick Joseph White, tried to get into the CDC’s headquarters but was stopped by guards before driving to a CVS across the street and opening fire, the official said. White died during Friday’s violence.

The suspect’s father contacted police and said his son was upset about the death of his dog, and had also become fixated on the Covid-19 vaccine, an official said.

One of White’s neighbors told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “He very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people.”

The police officer who was shot to death in a confrontation with a gunman was identified as 33-year-old David Rose – a husband and father of two daughters who had a son on the way.

Rose, who joined the DeKalb county police force in September of last year and previously served in the US marines, had responded to reports of gunfire near the CDC campus. He was later rushed to the Emory University hospital, where he died of his injuries.

After firing shots at the CDC campus near Emory University on Friday afternoon, White was found dead on the second floor of the pharmacy building. Authorities have not said if he was killed by police or took his own life.

He was reported to be wearing a surgical mask and was armed with two handguns, a rifle and a shotgun, and he was carrying two backpacks filled with ammo, officials told CNN.

The CDC director, Susan Monarez, confirmed that at least four buildings at the public health agency had been struck in the shooting, which began shortly before 5pm on Friday.

“The active shooter incident near our campus today has understandably brought fear, anger and worry to all of us,” Monarez said in a message to CDC employees. “I want to express my deep appreciation for your professionalism and resilience during this time.”

“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,” the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, posted online on Saturday.

But those words of sympathy from Kennedy, an avowed skeptic of vaccine safety, were rejected by a group of former CDC scientists, communicators, policy analysts and public health experts who were laid off by the Trump administration.

“Kennedy is directly responsible for the villainization of CDC’s workforce through his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust,” Fired but Fighting, a group of former CDC employees who were laid off, said in a statement. “We don’t need thoughts and prayers. We need an administration that does not villainize federal workers who are just trying to do their job. We need a HHS Secretary who does not promote misinformation about science and vaccines.”

Kennedy recently ordered the cutting of the budget for mRNA vaccine development. He said in a statement that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (Barda) would terminate 22 mRNA vaccine development investments, suggesting the vaccines “fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like Covid and flu”. Critics said the decision was not grounded in science and pointed to evidence that the covid vaccines had saved millions of lives.

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Atlanta-headquartered CNN reported that White’s father alerted law enforcement before the shooting that he believed his son was suicidal.

Cody Alcorn with Atlanta’s 11 Alive reported that one of White’s neighbors said he was against vaccines and had looked “noticeably” slimmer recently. Another neighbor described White as “pleasant” and said he never talked politics “but was against the vaccine”.

The outlet also reported that crime scene investigators found more than 40 bullet holes in multiple CDC buildings after Friday’s attack. Building 21, where the CDC director has her office, took much of the gunfire.

The Atlanta police chief, Darin Schierbaum, said the department had received a call about an active shooter at about 4.50pm and arrived at the scene to find Rose critically injured.

DeKalb county’s interim police chief, Greg Padrick, said Rose “was committed to serving the community” and requested prayers for “his family, his friends, his loved ones and the entire DeKalb county police department family”.

The director of the FBI, Kash Patel, said Rose was a hero who “made the ultimate sacrifice”.

“Pray for the family, friends, and colleagues of this hero who acted quickly to defend others and made the ultimate sacrifice,” Patel said in a post on X.

The attack came as threats of violence against healthcare professionals in the US are on the rise.

A survey by Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the US, found that 48% of the more than 2,000 responding nurses reported an increase in workplace violence.

In December, UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson was shot dead on a Manhattan street. Suspect Luigi Mangione, who is awaiting trial in the case, left a trail of indicators that he may have been motivated by anger toward the health insurance industry.

Associated Press contributed reporting