Atlanta police officer dies after attack near health agency’s headquarters

A police officer has died after he was injured in a shooting outside the headquarters of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

David Rose, 33, who graduated from the police academy in March, died in hospital after he was mortally wounded. No civilians were injured.

The attack, which targeted four buildings at the CDC’s Roybal Campus, involved a “single shooter” who died at the scene. Officials named him as Patrick Joseph White, 30.

The motive is unclear, but unnamed law-enforcement officials told the BBC’s US partner CBS that investigators were looking into the theory that the suspect was ill, or thought he was ill from a Covid vaccine.

Officer Rose was a former Marine who had served in Afghanistan.

DeKalb County official Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said: “This evening, there is a wife without a husband. There are three children, one unborn, without a father.”

Media reports suggested the gunman’s father had called police on the day of the shooting, believing his son was suicidal.

A neighbour of White told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the suspect had mentioned to her repeatedly he distrusted Covid-19 vaccines.

Nancy Hoalst, who lives across the street from White’s family in the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, told the newspaper: “He was very unsettled and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people. He emphatically believed that.”

CDC Director Susan Monarez said the centre was “heartbroken” by the attack.

“DeKalb County police, CDC security, and Emory University responded immediately and decisively, helping to prevent further harm to our staff and community,” she wrote in a post on X.

In a press briefing on Friday, police said they became aware of a report of an active shooter at around 16:50 local time (20:50 GMT) that day near the CDC.

Officers from multiple agencies responded. The CDC campus received a number of rounds of gunfire into its buildings.

Police said they found the shooter “struck by gunfire” – but could not specify whether that was from law enforcement or self-inflicted.

Secretary of Health Robert Kennedy Jr also issued a statement saying the agency was “deeply saddened” by the attack that claimed an officer’s life.

“We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No-one should face violence while working to protect the health of others,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy has previously expressed doubts about the side effects of vaccines, especially Covid vaccines, and has been accused of spreading misinformation.

Media outlets have reported that CDC employees have been asked to work remotely on Monday.