Atlanta Police officials confirmed that a “single shooter” who opened fire outside the Centers for Disease Control headquarters near the Emory University campus on Friday afternoon is dead.
DeKalb County Interim Police Chief Greg Padrick confirmed during an evening press conference that one of its officers, David Rose, was shot and killed in the incident. DeKalb CEO Loraine Cochran-Johnson said at the press conference that Rose left behind a wife, two children, and another on the way.
During another press conference, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the suspect fired at the Centers for Disease Control headquarters and was a white male who “was a known person who might have some interest in certain things.” CNN reported that the suspect was allegedly targeting the CDC because he blamed his illness on the COVID-19 vaccine.
Police responded to an active shooter situation around 5 p.m. at 1600 Clifton Road, which is the address of a CVS pharmacy on the Emory University campus near the CDC headquarters.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the suspect was found on the second floor of the building that housed the CVS with multiple gunshot wounds. Schierbaum said it was unknown if the wounds were from police return fire or self-inflicted.
Emory issued an alert urging students and faculty to “Run, Hide, Fight” and avoid the area just after 5 p.m. Clifton Road is closed in both directions near the scene of the incident. The shelter-in-place notice was lifted for the campus just after 6:30 p.m.
Channel 2 Action News reported that the deceased police officer was taken just down the street to Emory University Hospital.
Atlanta resident Hattie Gegax told Rough Draft that she witnessed the DeKalb police officer being shot.
“I heard popping and saw smoke so I stopped my car. A police Tahoe pulled up and cut right in front of me. A police officer jumped out and came around the side but then a second later I watched him get blown backward,” Gegax said. “At first I thought he was going for cover behind the car but then he wasn’t really moving, so I kind of realized. It was insane, then another cop began pushing cars back down the hill where we came from. I am so sorry for his family and friends and am very grateful for his sacrifice.”
In a social media post on X, multiple gunshots can be heard in the distance from the back deck of an apartment near the scene.
Channel 2 also showed a photograph of windows damaged by gunfire at the CDC.
The FBI field office in Atlanta posted on X that it was en route to the scene on the Emory campus.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
