Gunman kills officer outside CDC, cites vaccine distrust

A gunman opened fire outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta on Friday, killing a local police officer and wounding dozens of rounds into the campus before dying at the scene. The shooter, identified as a 30-year-old Georgia man, had written about his distrust of COVID-19 vaccines and blamed the vaccines for health problems he believed they caused, according to authorities. The attack prompted an extensive security response, a lockdown of the campus and nearby facilities, and renewed questions about the safety of public health workers in a charged political environment.

The incident began when the gunman attempted to enter the CDC campus from across the street, was blocked by security, and then fired into multiple campus buildings and a nearby CVS pharmacy. Authorities recovered more than 500 shell casings and five firearms, including at least one long gun; the weapons belonged to his father and were taken from a safe that the shooter forced entry into. DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was fatally shot while responding to the scene. The gunman died at the scene, with investigators not publicly confirming the exact cause of death,...