by (Recorder of Georgia) Following a fatal shooting near the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Roybal Campus that claimed the lives of a police officer and a suspected shooter, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. paid a visit to the organization’s headquarters in Atlanta on Monday.
According to police, the suspect started shooting at Emory Point, a mixed-use complex close to Emory University and the CDC, just before five o’clock on Friday. At least four buildings on the CDC site had windows and walls damaged by bullets. Additionally, the Associated Press said Monday that the shooter broke roughly 150 windows and fired over 180 rounds into the campus.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has identified 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White of Kennesaw as the shooting suspect. He was discovered dead from gunshot wounds on the second floor of a CVS in Emory Point, according to the police, but they have not disclosed any other information regarding the shooting’s potential motives. The shooter attributed his health problems to the COVID-19 vaccine, according to reports from the New York Times and CNN.On Tuesday, May 20, 2025, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives testimony before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. (Screenshot from the webcast of the committee)
Alongside CDC Director Susan Monarez and Deputy HHS Secretary Jim O. Neill, Kennedy, who has frequently questioned the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and advocated widely refuted claims regarding vaccine damage, took a tour of the campus.
Kennedy posted a comment to X the morning after the shooting, saying, “We understand how shaken our public health colleagues feel today.” Nobody should have to deal with violence while trying to keep others healthy.
“CDC personnel on the ground and throughout the agency are receiving active support,” he continued. Every day, public health professionals arrive with a purpose, even during times of uncertainty and sadness.
Kennedy’s statement, however, has angered some public health professionals and campaigners, who claim that the secretary has increased public suspicion in vaccines and public health professionals, putting CDC staff members at greater risk.
A group of former employees and supporters of the U.S. Department of Health Human Services, called Fired But Fighting, demanded that Kennedy step down as health secretary.PHOTO IN A FILE U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff expressed his gratitude for the committee’s bipartisan efforts to oppose significant Trump budget cuts for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. (The Georgia Recorder/Ross Williams)
According to a statement from the organization, Kennedy is directly to blame for the demonization of CDC employees due to his persistent fabrications on science and vaccine safety, which have fostered an atmosphere of animosity and mistrust. The systems designed to stop catastrophes like this from occurring have been dismantled by the continuous degradation of our public health infrastructure. Our nation is now more vulnerable as a result of cuts to the CDC’s injury prevention center, which includes initiatives to improve mental health and lessen gun violence.
A Democrat who voted against Kennedy’s nomination as health secretary, Sen. Jon Ossoff, also took issue with the agency’s budget cuts under the Trump administration.
Since this government came to power, the CDC has been the target of constant political criticism, according to Ossoff. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is a notorious nut who has supported numerous baseless conspiracy theories about public health throughout his career. This is the world’s leading epidemiological agency, tasked with safeguarding the American people and the rest of the world against deadly disease outbreaks.
