U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of a shooting that locked down the federal facility for hours and killed a police officer.
Kennedy attended the commemorative event that was open to employees of the federal agency. The event was not public.
Newly confirmed CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz did not attend the event, according to a CDC spokesperson.
The agency has a plaque marking the incident in its main lobby and the name of CDC Parkway, located off Clifton Road, will be changed to Officer David Rose Parkway.
Last year, on Aug. 8, a gunman opened fire outside of the CDC. Upward of 500 rounds were shot at several buildings shortly after 5 p.m. Rose, a responding DeKalb police officer, was killed in the shooting.
Fresh flowers have been placed at the makeshift memorial for Rose that has sat at the entrance to the CDC since last year. Every car pulling into campus passes a sign memorializing the officer, but the scene has been otherwise quiet in the lead up to Kennedy’s arrival.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
No CDC employees were injured in the shooting, but it prompted lengthy lockdowns.
The gunman, Patrick Joseph White, eventually turned a gun on himself and was found dead on the second floor of a CVS across the street from the CDC.
Officials said at the time that he left his family’s Kennesaw-area home that day with five weapons, including rifles, a shotgun and a handgun. At his home, investigators found a “written document that expressed the shooter’s discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinations,” authorities said.
When CDC employees were asked to return to work in mid-September, dozen of bullet holes remained visible. Some of roughly 150 windows were shattered in the shooting.
The ceremony appeared to wrap up a little past 11 a.m., with employees walking out to the makeshift memorial in pairs and small groups. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum drove off the property with a wave to the assembled media.
DeKalb Police Chief Greg Padrick left just after Schierbaum.
“Being able to honor (Rose) and stand with his family is an experience like no other,” Padrick said. “I don’t want any other chief of police to ever have to experience this, but there’s no doubt in my mind that his legacy, Officer Rose’s legacy, will forever be remembered in our community.”
Kennedy last visited the CDC in August 2025, after the shooting, though he did not make any public comments.
For that visit, Kennedy was greeted by several protesters, including current and former CDC employees, some who held signs, the AJC previously reported. During that earlier trip, the CDC said Kennedy toured the damaged areas and met with Padrick and Rose’s widow.
— This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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