A gunman opened fire in Atlanta on Friday afternoon near the campuses of both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University, killing a police officer who was responding to calls of an active shooter, officials said.
The DeKalb County Police Department identified the slain officer Friday as David Rose, 33.
Officers found the suspect with gunshot wounds on the second floor of a building that houses a CVS Pharmacy. He died of his injuries, officials said.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive in the incident.
Here's what we know about the shooting.
How did the the shooting unfold?
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said 911 calls about an active shooter came in around 4:50 p.m. for 1600 Clifton Road, in front of the CDC campus.
Around that same time, nearby Emory University sent out an alert that there was an active shooter situation on campus. Both Emory and the CDC’s Roybal Campus were locked down.
When officers responded to the scene, Schierbaum said, they found Rose critically injured. He was taken to Emory University Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Schierbaum said officers heard gunfire inside a CVS at a retail and apartment complex at the intersection, and went inside the building to try to locate the shooter.
The suspect was found on the second floor. Schierbaum said he had been hit by gunfire, but that officers are not sure if the wounds were self-inflicted or whether he was shot by police.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the probe, identified the suspect Saturday as Patrick Joseph White, 30, of Kennesaw, Georgia.
No civilians were injured in the shooting, Dickens said. A representative for CVS said no one at the store was hurt.
Four other people took themselves to the hospital, where they were treated for stress and anxiety symptoms, Schierbaum said.
Who was the slain officer?
Rose joined the DeKalb County Police Department in September, starting at its police academy, and graduated in March, officials said.
Before joining the department, he served in the U.S. Marines, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement.
He was married and father to two daughters with a son on the way, Dickens said.
“We grieve alongside his family. My heart goes out to the entire DeKalb county government and police department.” Dickens said. “Officer Rose’s passing is a stark reminder that every day, law enforcement officers put themselves in harm’s way to protect others, and this dedication deserves our respect and gratitude.”
CDC building struck
CDC Director Susan Monarez said four of the campus’ buildings were hit during the shooting.
Monarez said Friday that she was “heartbroken by today’s attack.”
In a letter to employees on Saturday, Monarez said that “Monday will be a remote workday for all employees in order for us to conduct a security assessment before returning to the office.”
“Law enforcement is still assessing damage to CDC buildings, but it is a relief to report that no CDC employees or visitors were harmed, and we are grateful for the swift response of CDC Security and local law enforcement,” she said.
Was the CDC targeted?
Asked if it was believed that the shooter targeted the CDC, Dickens said Friday the investigation is in the preliminary stages and that he could not say more about a possible motive.
He referred to the suspect as “a known person that may have some interests in certain things, that I can’t reiterate right know with any confidence until the investigation is fully conducted.”
A neighbor of the suspect, who said she knew him very well and requested anonymity, told NBC News that White had expressed anti-vaccine sentiments to her on multiple occasions. She said he told her he believed the Covid vaccine had made him ill.
In response to the shooting, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was "deeply saddened" and that he stands with Rose's family.
"We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others," Kennedy wrote on X. He said his staff is "actively supporting" CDC staff members across the agency.
"We honor their service. We stand with them. And we remain united in our mission to protect and improve the health of every American," Kennedy said.
Fired But Fighting, a group that describes itself as "a coalition of fired HHS employees and allies," rejected Kennedy's statement of support and called for his immediate resignation.
"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," the group wrote on a statement on its website.
Kennedy has long held anti-vaccine beliefs that came to a head with his denouncement of the Covid-19 vaccines.
Under Kennedy, the CDC has laid off nearly 2,000 employees. President Donald Trump has proposed cutting the agency’s budget in half next year, moving some CDC functions into a new Administration for a Healthy America.
What have officials said?
Gov. Brian Kemp denounced the shooting, the second in the state in one week.
“Twice this week, deranged criminals have targeted innocent Georgians,” Kemp said on X, referring to a shooting at the Army post Fort Stewart two days earlier. He also thanked first responders.
In a separate post, Kemp said his family is mourning Rose whose "service and memory will not be forgotten by a grateful state."
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., offered prayers and said he was "devastated that our community is facing yet another tragedy of gun violence."
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency would offer full support to Georgia officials in the wake of the shooting.
“Pray for the family, friends, and colleagues of this hero who acted quickly to defend others and made the ultimate sacrifice,” Patel said on X.
Dickens said that violence like the kind that erupted Friday, shows there needs to be a national conversation about gun violence.
“Mass shootings, active shooter scenarios should not become the norm,” Dickens said.
Second shooting in Georgia in one week
Friday’s shooting comes two days after an active-duty solider wounded five service members at Fort Stewart before a group of witnesses subdued him, officials said.
Quornelius Radford, 28, an automated logistics sergeant, is believed to have opened fire Wednesday with a personal handgun before he was taken into custody, said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart Hunter Army Airfield.
The victims were not publicly identified but were said to be Radford’s co-workers at the base, which is 40 miles southwest of Savannah.
Three of the five who were injured have been released from the hospital, which Lubas said Thursday was “amazing considering the circumstances and the ranges of which they were engaged.”
The two who remain hospitalized are expected to recover, Lubas said.
Lubas said it was not clear what prompted the shooting.
Radford was the subject of bullying over his stutter almost as soon as he joined the military, former co-workers said.
