Suspect in CDC Shooting Identified

ATLANTA—Investigators identified a 30-year-old man from suburban Atlanta on Saturday as the person who opened fire on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killing a police officer and spreading panic through the health agency and nearby Emory University.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the shooter was Patrick Joseph White of Kennesaw, Georgia. Officer David Rose of the DeKalb County Police Department was mortally wounded Friday while responding. No one else was hit, although police said four people reported to emergency rooms with symptoms of anxiety. Many CDC employees sought cover in their offices as bullets strafed the agency's headquarters.

Police say White opened fire at the campus from across the street, leaving gaping bullet holes in windows and littering the sidewalk outside a CVS pharmacy with bullet casings. The attack prompted a massive law enforcement response to one of the nation’s most prominent public health institutions.

At least four CDC buildings were hit, Director Susan Monarez said in a post on X, and dozens of impacts were visible from outside the campus. Images shared by employees showed bullet-pocked windows in offices where thousands of scientists and staff work on critical disease research.

The gunman died at the scene, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Friday, adding: “we do not know at this time whether that was from officers or if it was self-inflicted.”

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