CDC Gunman Used Dad's Weapons, Cause Of Death Released: GBI

Updated at 12:20 p.m. to add a photo of White.

EAST ATLANTA, GA — The accused gunman in the fatal shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week forced his way into his father's safe and stole the weapons used in the shooting, authorities said Tuesday.

Nearly 300 rounds were fired in the shooting, with almost 200 of them hitting six of the CDC buildings on Friday, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said at a news conference.

The CDC is located in the 1600 block of Clifton Road and is near Emory University. Hosey said the crime scene was primarily situated in an intersection near the CVS pharmacy.

The shooting claimed the life of DeKalb County police officer David Rose, authorities say.

The accused shooter, who authorities previously identified as 30-year-old Kennesaw resident Patrick Joseph White, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene, Hosey said. Rounds from an Emory University officer did not hit White, Hosey said.

White was armed with five weapons, including a rifle and shotgun, that he took from his father's safe, Hosey said. Authorities have spent the weekend interviewing his father.

More than 500 shell casings were recovered from the crime scene, the majority of them being from a rifle, he said.

White had no known criminal history but voiced his discontent with the COVID-19 vaccine, Hosey said. Authorities found written documents expressing ill feelings about the vaccine, though White made no direct threats, Hosey said.

White had recently verbalized thoughts of suicide, which led to law enforcement being contacted several weeks before the shooting, Hosey said.

"Any rhetoric that leads to violence is something that we take very seriously," Brown said.

Rose was the first officer on the scene the day of the shooting, FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown said at the news conference.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Rose's friends, family and colleagues," Brown said.

Hosey later added, "Rose was doing his job and encountered gunfire and passed as a result of that."

DeKalb County government officials previously said Rose was "ambushed."

The shooting sparked controversy over the safety of CDC staff, which remotely worked Monday.

The CDC had been thoroughly evacuated with everyone safe, including in the daycare, Brown said.

A CDC worker who was walking to their car at the time of the shooting said had they kept walking across a courtyard, they "could potentially be in a killing field," per a CBS News report. Another staffer sheltered in place for two hours, not knowing the location of the shooter, CBS News reported.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday visited the Atlanta site to meet with CDC Director Susan Monarez - much to the dismay of current and former CDC workers who protested his visit, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“I think this violence was a result of the rhetoric used by the secretary of health and his appointees and followers, vilifying CDC, CDC workers, accusing us of atrocities, and some of his followers have said we need to be punished,” CDC employee Anne Yousaf said in a report from WXIA-TV.

Yousaf called for Kennedy to publicly speak against violent acts targeting public health workers, WXIA-TV reported.

Hosey asked anyone with information or cell phone video related to the shooting to call the GBI tip line, 1 (800) 597-8477, or send the tip through the GBI's See Something, Say Something app.

RELATED:

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• CDC Gunman Spoke About Distrust Of COVID-19 Vaccines Before Shooting
• Shooter, Officer Dead Near CDC And Emory University, Police Say

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