In a large and quickly arranged call to increase on Saturday, about 800 employees of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tried to make sense of the trauma they had withstood only a day earlier when a gunman opened fire on the agency’s buildings on the other side of the street.
They rolled up for the weekend when more than 40 bullets crashed through their office windows, shrinking just above the walls of their cabins and fossilizing officers in at least four buildings.
But the violent episode on Friday is the most restless new chapter of what was a tumultuous period for CDC. While the authorities have not announced a motive for shooting, law enforcement sources claim that the suspect may be directed to CDC for health concerns that Covid-19 accuses the Covid-19 vaccine.
One of the leading health agencies in the world, CDC is tasked with protecting the health of Americans. But she fell under the firing during the Second Trump Administration, as conspiracy theories continued to hit the vaccine credited to stop the spread of the global pandemic.
The attack on CDC’s offices was directed and deliberate, CDC leaders said in the conversation. Employees may hear that their work is aimed at a possible motivation for the shooter, the leadership added.
CDC Chief Medical Officer, Debra Hori, has admitted that terror staff have survived whether they are in the building or not, saying that the leaders are “crazy, this happened.”
The executives told the employees, many of whom work at the Agency’s National Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, the attack was carried out by Sagittarius, who had reached for the help of mental health for weeks before the incident, but did not threats before, according to two sources that were not indicated.
It is not clear who suspected, identified as 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, reached. The investigation of what led to the shooting continues.
An employee of CDC shared photos showing bullet holes in windows near Cabini in building 24 at the CDC headquarters on Friday. – received by CNN
A window broken by a rifle after shooting to the CDC headquarters on Friday. – received by CNN
“These were not homeless bullets”
The shooting began shortly before 5:00 pm at the clifton Road Emory Point CVS, directly from the main entrance to the CDC.
Sagittarius – carrying what looked like a surgical mask and armed with two pistols, a rifle, a rifle and two backpacks filled with ammo – fired at at least four CDC buildings.
There were at least 40 bullets holes in two buildings, as well as several in a third building, CDC leaders said on Saturday. The buildings are stored a large part of the work that is not a lab in CDC.
“These were not homeless bullets,” said one leader in the conversation, sharing updates from the authorities. CNN received copies of staff notes from the meeting, which were shared in a large chat of the group of employees.
CDC employees said they feel like “sitting ducks” on Saturday’s call.
Photos viewed by CNN taken from a CDC building depict bullet holes in windows and broken glass on the floor. The images show rounds of ammunition, flying just above a number of office cabins where employees sit.
While the gunman shoots at the CDC complex, police officer Dekalb David Rose withdrew. The shooter directed his target from the CDC complex to the officer, according to a source of law enforcement.
The 33 -year -old Rose was shot and later died in hospital. A married father of two, with another along the way, Rose would have done a year to work next month.
After a tense locking lock in the night, the shooter was hit by a shooting and found dead on the second floor of the CVS store. Police could not say whether the shooting was coming from officers or shooter himself.
In CDC offices, employees said the situation could be much worse.
“This is a miracle that no one has been killed here,” an CDC official told CNN.
The flowers are seen under a handwritten sign in front of the global headquarters of the Central Disease Centers (CDC) after shooting on August 9, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. – Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
Shooting happened against the background of vaccine misinformation and sliced CDC funding
After talking to members of the suspect family, police operates under the hypothesis that he is either sick or believes that he is ill and blames the Covid-19 vaccine disease, said an CNN order official.
The shooting happened the same week, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a longtime critic for Covid vaccinations, with a history of distribution of misinformation of the vaccine, the cancellation of half a billion dollar investments in MRNA projects.
HHS has said it will cancel the federal funding for nearly two dozen Vaccine projects against MRNA.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic firing on the CDC campus in Atlanta, which took the life of officer David Rose,” Kennedy said on Saturday. “No one should encounter violence while working to protect the health of others.”
Police officer David Rose, who was shot and killed during a shooting at the campus of Emori University. – Decalb County Police
“Public health workers appear every day for the purpose – even at times of grief and uncertainty,” the health secretary continued. “We honor their service. We stand with them. And we remain united in our mission to protect and improve the health of every American.”
Asked during a Saturday conversation as to if she spoke with Kennedy about his plan to deal with the shooting, CDC director D -R -Susan Monres replied that they were in contact with his office, according to the staff received by CNN.
Monres was also asked what the agency plans to deal with the misinformation, but the leaders of the call agencies did not respond directly.
Monarez informs CDC employees by email that they will work remotely on Monday while a “security assessment” is being held. Employee support staff were provided to the workers, she said.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said CDC employees “have had a difficult road in the last year”, citing the “uncertainty” surrounding the employment of CDC employees.
The agency has lost nearly a quarter of its staff since January. The proposed budget of the Trump administration for the fiscal 2026 will reduce the agency’s funding by more than half.
According to the proposed reorganization, the CDC will lose additional programs. Some will be transferred to a new administration for Healthy America, while others – such as the National Center for Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion – will be eliminated completely.
“My heart comes out to you,” Dickens said. “We are with you. We are standing with you and doing our best to make sure we will add a solution to the situation.”
Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.
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