Georgia officials have identified Patrick Joseph White as the gunman who opened fire outside the CDC in Atlanta, killing a police officer before dying at the scene.
A deadly shooting outside the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta has left one police officer dead and the suspected gunman fatally wounded, in an incident that sent shockwaves through the community and raised fears over security at one of the nation’s most critical health agencies.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the shooter as Patrick Joseph White, 30, of Kennesaw, Georgia. The chaos began Friday afternoon when gunfire erupted on Clifton Road, near the CDC’s Emory Point campus.
Officer David Rose, 33, of the DeKalb County Police Department, was responding to reports of an active shooter at a CVS pharmacy across from the CDC when he was fatally shot.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum confirmed that White was found dead on the second floor of the CVS. Authorities have yet to determine whether his fatal wound was self-inflicted or from police return fire.
While investigators have not officially disclosed a motive, CNN reported that law enforcement sources believe White may have been targeting the CDC after blaming an illness on the COVID-19 vaccine, according to interviews with his family.
In a chilling detail, bullets flew perilously close to a daycare facility housing 92 children, though no children were harmed.
The investigation remains ongoing, with federal and state authorities piecing together the events and potential motive behind the attack on America’s top public health institution.
