Man Who Fired Hundreds of Rounds, Killed Cop at CDC HQ Wrote of 'Discontent' With COVID-19 Vaccines: Police By Sean Neumann

The man who opened fire on the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control in Georgia last Friday, killing one police officer, allegedly did so out of “discontent” with COVID-19 vaccines, authorities announced on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

Officials said at a news conference held by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that the shooter, identified as Patrick Joseph White, had expressed “discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinations” in documents found at the home he shared with his parents, according to the Associated Press.

Chris Hosey, the director of the GBI, said White, 30, had wanted to make “the public aware of his discontent with the vaccine,” according to the documents found after authorities searched the home. White used one of his father’s guns in the attack, according to Hosey, who alleged that the shooter “broke into” a safe where his father kept the weapon.

White was stopped by CDC security guards as he tried to drive into the campus Aug. 8, which is also located near Emory University. He then drove across the street to a CVS, according to the AP, where he opened fire on the CDC building from across the street. 

Authorities said Tuesday that investigators recovered at least 500 shell casings at the scene, estimating that White fired more than 180 shots at the CDC headquarters using his father’s long gun. White shot and killed himself at the scene before responding officers could reach him.

Hosey said White’s parents have been cooperating with authorities since Friday, as officials investigate the couple’s deceased son.

The shooting killed Dekalb County Police officer David Rose, PEOPLE previously reported. Rose, 33, was a father of two and was expecting another child with his pregnant wife, Dekalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said over the weekend.

“This evening, there is a wife without a husband. There are three children, one unborn, without a father. There is a mother and a father, as well as siblings who also share in this traumatic loss,” Cochran-Johnson said, according to CNN.

No civilians were injured.

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In the days since the shooting, critics have pointed fingers at leaders such as President Donald Trump and his Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spreading misinformation about COVID-19 in recent years, as well as the vaccines created to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez held an all-staff meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 12, according to the AP, in which she said “misinformation can be dangerous.”

“We know that misinformation can be dangerous. Not only to health, but to those that trust us and those we want to trust,” Monarez told the CDC employees. “We need to rebuild the trust together. The trust is what binds us. In moments like this, we must meet the challenges with rational, evidence based discourse spoken with compassion and understanding. That is how we will lead.”

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