Suspect, 30, Identified as CDC Shooter Who Killed Police Officer in Atlanta: 'He Was Very Unsettled,' Neighbor Says By Bailey Richards

Authorities have identified the man who fatally shot a police officer near the headquarters for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

Patrick Joseph White is the suspected shooter who carried out the deadly attack near Emory University on Friday, Aug. 8, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The Kennesaw, Ga. resident, 30, died during the incident, which also resulted in the death of David Rose, an officer with the DeKalb County Police Department (DCPD).

New testimonies also reveal a potential motive, as neighbors told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White began frequently bringing up his distrust of vaccines.

Nancy Hoalst, the man’s neighbor of about five years, told the outlet, “He was very unsettled and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people. He emphatically believed that.”

“I didn’t know he had those tendencies,” continued Hoalst, adding that she “had no idea he thought he would take it out on the CDC.”

Cody Alcorn, an Atlanta-based journalist at NBC affiliate 11 Alive, also spoke with the alleged shooter’s neighbors. He said in reporting shared on X that residents knew White was against vaccines” and that they “noticed him looking slimmer recently.”

Authorities initially theorized, after speaking to the suspected shooter’s family member, that White was either sick or believed that he was sick and blamed the illness on the COVID-19 vaccine, CNN reported.

On Aug. 8, Atlanta police received 911 calls about an active shooter around 4:50 p.m. at 1600 Clifton Road, in front of the CDC campus, authorities said in a prior press conference.

The shooter was wearing a surgical mask, ear protection, and had two handguns, one rifle and one shotgun, according to CNN.

On the scene, authorities discovered the critically injured Rose, 33, who later died of his injuries. 

Officers heard gunfire inside a CVS at the nearby intersection and went inside the building, where they located White on the second floor. He had been hit by gunfire, though Schierbaum said it was unclear if the wounds were self-inflicted or from police fire. He later died at the scene.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the CDC campus “did receive multiple rounds into their buildings,” but officials were not aware of any injuries that occurred there, per CNN. No civilians were injured, authorities said.

Rose leaves behind a pregnant wife and two children, CNN reported, citing DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson.

“This evening, there is a wife without a husband,” Cochran-Johnson said in a statement, per the outlet. “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.”