Aug. 9 (UPI) — The suspected gunman in the attack that killed a police officer near the Emory University campus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters was identified Saturday morning.
One day after the shooting on Friday night, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Patrick Joseph White, 30, of Kennesaw, Ga., was the killer.
WXIA-TV posted video from outside the home of the suspected shooter on Friday night where there was crime scene tape.
GBI is the lead investigator, and has been working with the Atlanta, DeKalb County and Emory police, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Emory, with an enrollment of 5,727, was on lockdown for a few hours, while the CDC had a shelter in place order at its Roybal Campus until the late evening. The school said Saturday there will be increased police presence throughout the weekend.
David Rose, a 33-year-old police officer for the DeKalb department, died while responding to the shooting. Rose, who joined the department in September and was a retired U.S. Marine, had two children with his wife, who is pregnant.
“This officer responded to the call as he did, as he was trained to do, and during that incident he received gunfire and he lost his life in this incident,” interim Police Chief Gregory Padrick said. “He was committed to serving the community. It’s a noble profession we all do. We answer the call to serve our community and he gave his life with a commitment to serve others.”
Rose was the only person shot during the attack, which started just before 5 p.m. at the Emory Point CVS drugstore on Clifton Road. White was found dead from a gunshot wound on the second floor. It wasn’t disclosed whether he was shot by law enforcement or whether it was self-inflicted.
The shooting occurred across the street from the CDC campus, where there were bullet holes in windows and shattered glass on the floor. Some rounds of ammunition also flew just above office cubicles.
CDC Director Susan Monerez told employees to work remotely while a “security assessment” is conducted at the campus.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Friday the suspect was “known to have some interest in certain things that I can’t reiterate right now with any confidence until the investigation is fully conducted.”
CNN reported the shooter was upset about health problems blamed on the Covid-19 vaccine recommended by the CDC and approved by the Federal Drug Administration in 2020 with Emergency Use Authorization and full approval for certain ages in 2021 for Pfizer-BioNTech and in 2022 for Moderna.