The man suspected of opening fire against the centers for disease control and the prevention campus on Friday night blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for sick and depressed, according to the information collected by the police and the sources close to the suspect.
The investigation is still ongoing and officials warn that information is preliminary at this time.
It is believed that Patrick White had problems with his mental health, according to that information. When dealing with those problems, the sources said, White had become more and more in the COVID-19 vaccine as a source of their complaints.
Balance holes are observed in Windows at the global centers for nursing control headquarters (CDC) after a shooting that left two dead, on August 9, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. On August 8, an armed man opened fire near the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control, killing an officer of the Dekalb County Police Department before being found dead by shots. (Photo of Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
Several Kennessaw residents who knew the alleged 30 -year -old shooter told ABC News that they had heard White express similar feelings angry and conspiracy mentality.
A neighbor, who asked not to be appointed, said White would sit on her porch for long stretches, often complaining that after receiving Covid-19 shot, she had lost a lot of weight, she developed swallowed problems and gastrointestinal problems. And, the neighbor said he believed that the media and the government were not covering it.
“He thought the vaccines were killing him and that people needed to know the truth,” said the neighbor, added that she did not agree with him, but listened.
White’s father declined to comment on his son when ABC News contacted.
The Georgia Research Office, which leads the investigation, declined to comment on a potential reason.
Infectious disease experts argue that RNM vaccines such as those used against COVID-19 have been studied for decades and that shots were fundamental to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CDC. Although COVID-19 vaccines have been highly politicized and are subject to a flood of my and misinformation, experts say they are safe and effective.
According to CDCs, long-term adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are generally very rare, according to CDC.
All CDC employees throughout the country, except essential personnel on the site, have received instructions to work remotely on Monday while Georgia researchers continue to investigate the incident of deadly active shooters on Friday near the headquarters of the Atlanta agency, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.
In the letter, the leadership of the CDC told the more than 10,000 employees of the agency that both the Federal Police and the premises are carrying out “intensive monitoring of all potential threats for the CDCs and their staff, current and past” to guarantee their safety.
The police on the scene or a shooting reported on the Atlanta campus of the University of Emory in Atlanta, on August 8, 2025.
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Researchers have not yet revealed the reason behind Friday’s shooting, but the leadership of the CDC said in email: “What we know about the incident is that this was an attack aimed at CDC related to COVID.”
The Dekalb County Police officer, David Rose, was shot after responding to the informed shots.
He was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where he was declared dead, authorities said at a press conference on Friday night.
During the shooting, the suspect fired multiple rounds in the CDC buildings, breaking Windows, said Atlanta police chief Darin Schierbaum, during a press conference.
Following the shooting, four other people were transported to a hospital in the area for reasons related to stress and anxiety, said the police chief.
