CDC shooter believed COVID vaccine made him suicidal, his father tells police : NPR

ATLANTA — A Georgia man who opened fireplace on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, capturing dozens of rounds into the sprawling complicated and killing a police officer, had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a legislation enforcement official advised The Associated Press on Saturday.

The 30-year-old shooter additionally tried to get into the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta however was stopped by guards earlier than driving to a pharmacy throughout the road and opening fireplace late Friday afternoon, the official mentioned. He was armed with 5 weapons, together with at the very least one lengthy gun, the official mentioned, talking on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to publicly focus on the investigation.

DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was mortally wounded whereas responding.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose skepticism of vaccines has been a cornerstone of his profession, voiced help for CDC staff Saturday. But some laid-off CDC staff mentioned Kennedy shares accountability for the violence and will resign.

CDC shooter recognized

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation named Patrick Joseph White because the shooter, however authorities have not mentioned whether or not he was killed by police or killed himself.

The suspect’s father contacted police and recognized his son because the doable shooter, the legislation enforcement official advised AP. The father mentioned his son had been upset over the demise of the son’s canine, and he had additionally grow to be fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine, in keeping with the official. The household lives in Kennesaw, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of CDC headquarters.

A voicemail left at a cellphone quantity listed publicly for White’s household wasn’t returned Saturday.

Employees on the CDC are shaken

The capturing left gaping bullet holes in home windows throughout the CDC campus, the place 1000’s work on vital illness analysis. Employees huddled beneath lockdown for hours whereas investigators gathered proof. Staff was inspired to do business from home Monday or take depart.

At least 4 CDC buildings have been hit, Director Susan Monarez mentioned on X.

Sam Atkins, who lives in Stone Mountain, mentioned outdoors the CVS pharmacy on Saturday that gun violence appears like “a fact of life” now. “This is an everyday thing that happens here in Georgia.”

Kennedy reaches out to employees

“We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at CDC’s Atlanta campus that took the life of officer David Rose,” Kennedy mentioned Saturday. “We know how shaken our public health colleagues feel today. No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others.”

Some rejected the expressions of solidarity Kennedy made in a “Dear colleagues” e-mail, and referred to as for his 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,” mentioned Fired But Fighting, a gaggle of laid-off staff opposing adjustments to the CDC by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Under Kennedy, CDC has laid off practically 2,000 staff. Trump proposes chopping the company’s funds in half subsequent yr, transferring some CDC capabilities into a brand new Administration for a Healthy America. Kennedy has a historical past as a frontrunner within the anti-vaccine motion, however he reached new prominence by spreading mistrust of COVID-19 vaccines. For instance, he referred to as it “criminal medical malpractice” to offer COVID-19 vaccines to kids.

Kennedy parlayed that focus right into a presidential bid and endorsement of Trump, resulting in Trump naming him secretary. Kennedy continues to undercut the scientific consensus for vaccines, ordering $500 million reduce from vaccine growth funding on Tuesday.

Opponents say officers’ rhetoric contributed

Fired But Fighting additionally referred to as for the resignation of Russell Vought, noting a video recorded earlier than Trump appointed him Office of Management and Budget director with orders to dismantle a lot of the federal authorities.

“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” Vought mentioned within the video, obtained by ProPublica and the analysis group Documented. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains.”

A request for remark from Vought’s company wasn’t returned.

This capturing was the “physical embodiment of the narrative that has taken over, attacking science, and attacking our federal workers,” mentioned Sarah Boim, a former CDC communications staffer who was fired this yr throughout a wave of terminations.

A mistrust of COVID-19 vaccines

A neighbor of White advised The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White spoke together with her a number of occasions about his mistrust of COVID-19 vaccines.

Nancy Hoalst, who lives on the identical avenue as White’s household, mentioned he appeared like a “good guy” whereas doing yard work and strolling canines for neighbors, however he would convey up vaccines even in unrelated conversations.

“He was very unsettled, and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people.” Hoalst advised the Atlanta newspaper. “He emphatically believed that.”

But Hoalst mentioned she by no means believed White can be violent: “I had no idea he thought he would take it out on the CDC.”

Slain officer leaves spouse and three youngsters

Rose, 33, was a former Marine who served in Afghanistan, graduated from the police academy in March and “quickly earned the respect of his colleagues for his dedication, courage and professionalism,” DeKalb County mentioned.

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

Growing safety considerations

Senior CDC management advised some employees Saturday that they might do a full safety evaluation following the capturing, in keeping with a convention name recording obtained by the AP.

One staffer mentioned folks felt like “sitting ducks” Friday. Another requested whether or not directors had spoken with Kennedy and if they might converse to “the misinformation, the disinformation” that “caused this issue.”

It is obvious CDC leaders concern staff may proceed to be focused. In a Saturday e-mail obtained by the AP, CDC’s safety workplace requested staff to scrape previous CDC parking decals off their autos. The workplace mentioned decals have not been required for a while.