CDC union condemns vaccine misinformation after shooter blamed COVID vaccine for depression

A Georgia man who wanted to send a message against COVID-19 vaccines fired over 180 times with a long gun at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's headquarters in Atlanta, killing a police officer, authorities said.

Patrick Joseph White, 30, who has been identified as the shooter in the attack late Friday at the CDC, tried to get into the complex but was stopped by guards before driving to a pharmacy across the street and opening fire, authorities said. White took his own life during the attack.

A union representing CDC workers said the shooting was not random and “compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured.” It demanded that federal officials condemn vaccine misinformation, saying it puts scientists at risk.

Here's what to know about the shooting and the continuing investigation:

The barrage of gunfire unleashed by White left bullet marks in windows across the sprawling campus, police said. At least four CDC buildings were hit, CDC Director Susan Monarez said on the social platform X.

The bullets pierced “blast-resistant” windows, pinning employees down, and more than 500 shell casings were recovered, authorities said.

David Rose, a DeKalb County police officer, was fatally wounded while responding. Rose, a 33-year-old former Marine who served in Afghanistan, graduated from the police academy in March.

White was found on the second floor of a building across the street from the campus and died at the scene, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. His death was due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey.

The American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2883, said the CDC and leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services must provide a “clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation.”

Such a public statement by federal officials is needed to help prevent violence against scientists, the union said.

“Their leadership is critical in reinforcing public trust and ensuring that accurate, science-based information prevails,” it said in a statement.

Fired But Fighting, a group of laid-off CDC employees, has said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is directly responsible for the villainization of the workforce through “his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust.”

Public health leaders have been experiencing harassment and violence around the country since anti-vaccine vitriol took root during the pandemic. Kennedy has amplified the rhetoric, repeatedly making false and misleading statements about the safety of immunizations.

He told staffers over the weekend that “no one should face violence while working to protect the health of others,” without addressing the impact of anti-vaccine rhetoric.

HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon said Monday in a statement that Kennedy “has unequivocally condemned the horrific attack and remains fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of CDC employees.” Nixon added that Rose's “sacrifice to protect the CDC on its darkest day will never be forgotten.”

Thousands of people who work on critical disease research are employed on the campus. The union said some staffers huddled in various buildings until late at night Friday, while more than 90 young children were locked down inside the CDC's Clifton School.

The union said CDC employees should not be required to immediately return to work after such a traumatic event.

It said windows and buildings should first be fixed and made “completely secure.” The union also called for “perimeter security on all campuses” until the investigation is completed and the results are shared with staffers.

White was living with his parents, and his father contacted police and identified his son as the possible shooter. The father said White was upset over the death of his dog and became fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine, according to law enforcement officials.

Authorities recovered documents and electronic devices at the family’s suburban Atlanta home that are being analyzed, as well as five firearms including a gun belonging to the father that was used in the attack, authorities said.

White did not have a key to his father's gun safe, Hosey said: “He broke into it.”

The documents recovered by authorities “expressed the shooter’s discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinations,” and White had written about wanting to make “the public aware of his discontent with the vaccine,” Hosey added.

White also recently verbalized thoughts of suicide, which led to law enforcement being contacted several weeks before the shooting, Hosey said. His father told police he blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

A neighbor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White “seemed like a good guy” but spoke with her multiple times in unrelated conversations about his distrust of COVID-19 vaccines.

“He was very unsettled, and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people,” Nancy Hoalst told the paper. “He emphatically believed that.”

But Hoalst said she never believed White would be violent: “I had no idea he thought he would take it out on the CDC.”

A bullet hole is visible in the door of a CVS pharmacy on Saturday, August 9, 2025, near where police say a man was shooting at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

The notable bullet marks on the windows of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters are visible on Sunday Aug. 10, 2025. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

This photo provided by Georgia Bureau of Investigations Patrick Joseph White. ( Georgia Bureau of Investigations via AP)

People leave flowers Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at a makeshift memorial in honor of David Rose, the officer who was killed in the shooting at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon)

The notable bullet marks on the windows of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters are visible from Clifton Rd, on Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

A bullet hole is visible in the door of a CVS pharmacy on Saturday, August 9, 2025, near where police say a man was shooting at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

A lone bouquet sits outside a CVS pharmacy on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, near where police say a man was shooting at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One person died, two people were missing and 16 others were rescued from the waters off San Francisco after a pontoon boat carrying 19 people sank Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen reported the toll and said crews that arrived on the scene near Alcatraz Island found a three-deck pontoon vessel almost fully under water, with the motor still running and leaking fuel.

The waters around Alcatraz Island, once a federal prison and now a tourist destination, attract sailboats and other recreational vessels. It lies in San Francisco Bay about a mile (about 1.6 kilometers) north of the city's shoreline.

The boating mishap was initially reported as a fire, “but we now don’t have any evidence of that,” Crispen said.

Some of the people were injured from falling into the water, but there were no reports of burns, he said. The person who died was alive when plucked from the frigid waters by rescue crews but later died. A dog onboard also died.

Crews continued to search the water for the two missing with divers, helicopters and 11 vessels, Crispen said.

“Right now we are in full rescue mode,” he added.

All those rescued were taken to Gashouse Cove Marina, a small craft harbor in San Francisco. Three people with injuries from falling from the boat were taken to the hospital, Crispen said.

Fire Lt. Mariano Elias said the vessel, described as a “pontoon pleasure boat,” was about 600 yards (about 550 meters) from Alcatraz and the emergency call came in just after 3:30 p.m.

Crispen said the vessel was believed to have launched near the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. A person who answered the phone there said the club did not have any information on what happened.

Video images from a local Fox station showed a Fire Department boat deployed to rescue people who had been on the vessel, which was largely submerged with objects floating nearby.

Live video from the scene showed a man and a woman wrapped in blankets and sitting on a curb before walking to a nearby ambulance. A yellow tarp covered a body on the dock.

The Coast Guard and Oakland police also helped in the rescue, Elias said.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew goes past Alcatraz Island near the site of a pontoon boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Emergency crews gather at a dock near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Emergency crews stage near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

An Oakland Police boat is docked near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)

A U.S. Coast Guard crew patrols near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Emergency crews gather at a dock near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)