The man accused of killing a police officer while shooting at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta had previously been reported to police for suicidal thoughts and launched the deadly attack with his father’s weapons to send a message against COVID-19 vaccines, authorities said Tuesday. Patrick Joseph White, 30, is suspected of killing DeKalb County Police Department Officer David Rose, 33, shortly before 5 p.m., in an attack that saw him unload around 200 rounds into six CDC buildings. White’s driver’s license image was released publicly for the first time on Tuesday.
Rose, who previously served as a Marine in Afghanistan and joined the DeKalb County Police Department in September 2024, was responding to the scene and died from gunshot wounds. Five firearms were recovered by law enforcement, mostly long guns, with more than 500 shell casings found at the scene, authorities said at a Tuesday press briefing.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Director Chris Hosey said law enforcement made contact with White about mental health warning signs.