The deranged man who fatally shot a cop at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters has been identified by Georgia authorities as 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White.

White, of Kennesaw, Georgia, unleashed a barrage of bullets on the health agency before storming into a CVS located on the Emory University campus in Atlanta around 4:50 p.m. Friday, the police department said.

Dekalb County police officer David Rose, 33, was reportedly struck and killed while responding to reports of the active shooter at the Clifton Road drugstore, which is located across the street from the CDC’s main campus.

Law enforcement is seen near the Centers For Disease Control Global Headquarters during an active shooter incident on August 8, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images

Rose – a heroic officer who joined the department in September 2024 – was rushed to Emory University Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The gunman was also found shot at the scene, though authorities have not said if his fatal wound was self-inflicted.

Law enforcement sources told CNN the shooter likely targeted the CDC after he became sick with an apparent illness he blamed on the COVID-19 vaccine, according to police interviews with the suspect’s family Friday.

DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was fatally shot during the shooting on August 8, 2025. via REUTERS

A bullet hole in the door of a CVS pharmacy that Patrick Joseph White stormed into on Emory’s campus. AP

Emory University issued an urgent active shooter alert around 5 p.m., urging all students to “RUN” and “HIDE,” while the CDC campus was placed on lockdown. 

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said Friday that the shooter sprayed multiple rounds at law enforcement and the health agency, located right next to the university, which also houses a daycare with 92 children in its care. None of them were harmed.

Local, state and federal officers swarmed the harrowing scene, with chilling photos shared on social media showing bullet holes piercing the windows of the CDC’s building.

At least four of the health agency’s buildings were hit in the gunfire, according to CDC Director Susan Monarez. 

One police cruiser at the scene also appeared to have been hit by about a dozen gunshots to its windshield and hood. 

A law enforcement source told The Associated Press that the shooter was armed with a long gun, and authorities recovered three other firearms at the scene. 

Patrick Joseph White unleashed a barrage of bullets on the health agency before storming into a CVS located on the Emory University campus, police say. GBI

“There is extensive evidence to collect due to the complex scene. Numerous interviews are being conducted,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation wrote in a statement. “This investigation will take an extended period of time.” 

The Dekalb Police Department said Rose – who left behind a pregnant wife and two children – served the county “with courage, integrity, and unwavering dedication” in a statement.

“This evening, there is a wife without a husband,” Dekalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson told reporters Friday night. 

Ambulance at the scene of the shooting. WSB via CNN

“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. Let’s join together to give this family the support it needs during this traumatic loss,” she said. 

Authorities confirmed that no other civilians were injured in the shooting.