Enraged Over Purported COVID Vax Injury, Gunman Attacks CDC, Kills Cop

A police officer is dead after a surgical-mask-wearing gunman riddled the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with bullets. His parents think it was an act of revenge, saying their son believed he had an illness caused by the controversial Covid-19 vaccine. The attack ended with the shooter’s own death, but it’s unclear at this point if his mortal wound was self-inflicted. 

“The CDC campus did receive multiple rounds into their buildings,” Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum told reporters. CDC Director Susan Monarez said four buildings were hit. As this is written, the name of the white, male shooter has not been released by authorities. He was armed with two handguns, a rifle and a shotgun, and a law enforcement official on the scene told CNN he was wearing what appeared to be a surgical mask like those the CDC pushed for all men, women and children to wear during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite well-informed doubts about their efficacy and concerns about ill effects. He was also wearing ear protection. 

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens made cryptic allusions to the question of motive, telling reporters, “[The shooter] is a known person that may have some interest in certain things that I can’t reiterate right now.” However, according to CNN’s police sources, the shooter’s father had called the police prior to the shooting — earlier on Friday — to report that his son was suicidal. Family members also told investigators that the shooter was either physically ill or at least believed he was physically ill, and he was convinced that his malady resulted from receiving the Covid-19 vaccine.

MOMENT shooter opens fire at Emory University campus

Nonstop gunfire rips through the air

Police confirm shooter now DEAD https://t.co/y3GcUAPgx6 pic.twitter.com/RKonjvKipV

— RT (@RT_com) August 8, 2025

Police began receiving reports of a shooter immediately in front of the CDC campus at 4:50 pm. A CDC alert informed employees of an “active shooter” and instructed them to “RUN, HIDE FIGHT.” Responding officers found the fallen officer and extracted him from the scene. As they did, gunfire could be heard inside a building across the street from the CDC, that houses a CVS pharmacy on the campus of Emory University. Police entered the building and found the dead shooter on the second floor.

It appears the shooter never entered the CDC buildings, choosing only to shooting at them from below. Many vehicles were shot as well. Beyond the fatal shooting of the officer, no other people were shot, though four went to a hospital to be treated for stress and anxiety symptoms. CDC employees posted photos of bullet-shattered windows, and bystanders also shared videos that recorded the sound of abundant gunfire.

WATCH: Video shows bullets on the ground and bullet holes in windows inside CDC Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia after gunman opened fire outside the building. pic.twitter.com/aaqe4cVsXe

— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) August 9, 2025

DeKalb County police officer David Rose, a Marine Corps veteran who doubts about their efficacy and concerns about ill effects.  

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens made cryptic allusions to the question of motive, telling reporters, “[The shooter] is a known person that may have some interest in certain things that I can’t reiterate right now.” However, police sources told CNN that 

DeKalb County police officer David Rose died in the attack, leaving behind a pregnant wife and two children. 

“>graduated from the police academy in March, died in Friday’s attack, leaving behind a pregnant wife and two children. Police haven’t yet determined why he happened to be on or near the scene when the attack erupted. 

The apparently vaccine-related attack came in the same week that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr announced he was killling a half-billion-dollars in funding for development of mRNA vaccines, such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna for Covid-19. Kennedy said “mRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses” that the mRNA vaccines are meant to contain. Under Kennedy’s leadership, the CDC retracted its recommendation for universal Covid-19 immunizations for healthy children through age 17, and healthy pregnant women.  

CDC windows were struck by gunfire in Emory University shooting. pic.twitter.com/XELD15hULl

— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) August 8, 2025

While it wouldn’t have helped the CDC shooter, Kennedy in July announced he going to overhaul the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, in collaboration with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Health and Human Services. The VICP is focused on compensating children who are harmed by vaccines for which manufacturers enjoy immunity from lawsuits under the 1986 Vaccine Act. Kennedy explained: 

“Under the VICP, vaccine victims can petition for compensation to the so-called ‘Vaccine Court,’ which pays out awards from a trust fund endowed by a 75-cent surcharge on every vaccine. Congress intended that injured children be compensated “quickly and fairly” for injuries, “either presumed or proven to be causally connected to vaccines,” with doubts about causation resolved in favor of the victim…

The VICP no longer functions to achieve its Congressional intent. Instead, the VICP has devolved into a morass of inefficiency, favoritism, and outright corruption as government lawyers and the Special Masters who serve as Vaccine Court judges prioritize the solvency of the HHS Trust Fund, over their duty to compensate victims.

The structure itself hobbles claimants. The defendant is HHS, not the vaccine makers; and claimants are therefore facing the monumental power and bottomless pockets of the U.S. government…There is no discovery, and the rules of evidence do not apply. The government lawyers do not allow children’s attorneys access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a taxpayer-funded CDC surveillance system that houses the best data on vaccine injuries…

The VICP routinely dismisses meritorious cases outright or drags them out for years. Instead of ‘quickly and fairly’ awarding compensation, Special Masters dismiss over half of the cases. Most of those that proceed typically take 5+ years to resolve.” 

In June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of a panel of supposed “experts” that advises the CDC on vaccination policy, saying it was “plagued by persistent conflicts of interest and [had] become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,” and that “the problem is their immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives and paradigms that enforce a narrow pro-industry orthodoxy.”

The American public’s confidence in Covid vaccinations continues to erode. According to a July survey, 59% of U.S. adults say they will either “definitely not” or “probably not” receive a vaccine this fall, with just 21% saying they definitely will. Many also have a dim view of federal health agencies: Only 42% believe they make decisions based on a sound scientific basis, and only 37% confident they operate free of corrupting outside influences.