Man fired 180 shots, breaking 150 windows, in CDC attack

NEW YORK (AP) — The man who attacked the CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Friday fired more than 180 shots into the campus and broke about 150 windows, with bullets piercing “blast-resistant” windows and spattering glass shards into numerous rooms, according to information circulated internally at the agency.

It may take weeks or even months to replace windows and clean up the damage, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention personnel said.

A Georgia man who had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal opened fire late Friday, killing a police officer. No one at CDC was injured.

The shooter was stopped by CDC security guards before driving to a nearby pharmacy and opening fire late Friday afternoon, a law enforcement official has told the AP. The official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. The 30-year-old man, Patrick Joseph White, later died, but authorities haven’t said whether he was killed by police or killed himself.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. toured the CDC campus on Monday. CDC security pointed out broken windows across multiple buildings, including the main guard booth, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services statement.

HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and CDC Director Susan Monarez accompanied him, according to the statement.

Kennedy also visited the DeKalb County Police Department, where he met with the police chief. Later. He also met privately with the widow of the fallen officer, David Rose.

Monarez posted a statement on social media Friday night that said at least four CDC buildings were hit in the attack.

The extent of the damage became more clear during a weekend CDC leadership meeting. Two CDC employees who were told about what was discussed at the meeting described details to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to reveal the information. Details also were also in an agency memo seen by an AP reporter.

Building 21, which houses Monarez's office, was hit by the largest number of bullets. CDC officials did not say if her office was hit.

CDC employees were advised to work from home this week.

Kennedy issued a statement Saturday that said “no one should face violence while working to protect the health of others,” and that top federal health officials were ”actively supporting CDC staff."

He did not speak to the media during his visit Monday.

In a call with the media on Monday night, some unionized CDC employees said they are calling for more heavily armed guards, bulletproof glass, a better alert system, and more extensive evacuation planning for disabled employees and other vulnerable staff.

A retired CDC official, Stephan Monroe, said he worried about the long-term impact the attack would have on young scientists' willingness to go to work for the government.

“I’m concerned that this is this is going to be a generational hit,” said Monroe, speaking to a reporter near the corner where a poster had been set up in honor of Rose.

Kennedy was a leader in a national anti-vaccine movement before President Donald Trump selected him to oversee federal health agencies, and has made false and misleading statements about the safety and effectiveness of about COVID-19 shots and other vaccines.

Years of false rhetoric about vaccines and public health was bound to “take a toll on people’s mental health,” and “leads to violence,” said Tom Young, a CDC employee who retired in April.

Dr. Jerome Adams, the U.S. surgeon general during President Donald Trump’s first administration, said Sunday that health leaders should appreciate the weight of their words.

“We have to understand people are listening,” Adams told “Face the Nation” on CBS. “When you make claims that have been proven false time and time again about safety and efficacy of vaccines, that can cause unintended consequences.”

CDC employees are now taking steps to become less visible, including not wearing their public health service uniform to work, said Yolanda Jacobs, president of Local 2883 of the American Federation of Government Employees.

She recalled when CDC employees were happy to be approached by neighbors or others with public health questions. “Now it’s at the point we’re afraid to have those types of conversations with anybody, because we don't know who they are and we don't know what rhetoric they’ve ingested,” she said.

AP reporters Alanna Durkin Richer and Charlotte Kramon contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This story was first published on Aug. 11, 2025. It was updated on Aug. 12, 2025, to correct the first name of the retired agency employee, Tom Young.

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)

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)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The first of a series of powerful storms dumped heavy rain and swelled rivers in the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday, closing roads and prompting high water rescues.

Residents in parts of Oregon and Washington grappled with power outages, flooding and school closures, while drivers navigated debris slides and water that closed roads and submerged vehicles.

Fire officials northeast of Seattle said crews conducted several rescues, using inflatable kayaks to pull people from stranded cars and carrying another person about a mile (1.6 km) to safety after they were trapped in a wooded area by rising water.

Forecasters warned that the worst was still to come, with some major rivers expected to crest later in the week.

“We're starting to see a lot of rivers begin to rise and move very rapidly with lots of runoff with the rain,” said Harrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Seattle office.

Rademacher described the atmospheric river soaking the region as “a jet stream of moisture” stretching all the way across the Pacific Ocean “with the nozzle pushing right along the coast of Oregon and Washington.”

The National Weather Service forecast several days of heavy rainfall along the coast and more than a foot of new snow in the northern Rockies in northwestern Wyoming. Flood watches were in effect with scattered flash flooding possible along the coast and into the Cascade Mountains through midweek.

Along Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland, firefighters conducted five rescues for people whose vehicles were overcome by water when they attempted to drive on flooded roads, including a semitruck driver, said Malachi Simper, spokesperson for Lewis County Fire Protection District #5. Authorities also rescued a family of six from their home in Chehalis, he said, adding that the road to the house was under about four feet (1.2 meters) of water at the time. None of those rescued were injured, he added.

Police said deputies went door-to-door in certain neighborhoods to warn residents of imminent flooding, including evacuating a mobile home park along the Snohomish River northeast of Seattle. The city of Snohomish issued an emergency proclamation due to flooding, while in Auburn, south of Seattle, workers installed temporary flood control barriers along the White River.

On the Columbia River further south near the Oregon border, the city of Longview said it will open a severe weather shelter Tuesday night for anyone affected by flooding or closed streets.

Another storm system is expected to bring rain to the region starting Sunday, Rademacher said. “The pattern looks pretty unsettled going up to the holidays,” he said.

Portland transportation officials warned of an increased risk of car crashes because of hydroplaning or driving through flooded roads.

Further north, an arctic blast is affecting parts of southeast Alaska, with wind chills possibly hitting as low as minus 50 degrees (minus 45.6 Celsius) in Skagway, minus 25 (minus 31.6 Celsius) in Haines and minus 15 degrees (minus 26 C) in Alaska’s capital city, Juneau, according to the National Weather Service.

Meanwhile, a fast-moving storm tracking across the Upper Midwest on Tuesday was forecast to bring freezing rain, high winds and heavy snow.

Much of North Dakota was under a no-travel advisory because of freezing rain and slippery roads. Some schools closed or moved to virtual lessons due to the weather conditions.

Most of Montana and the Dakotas were under a high wind warning. Winds of up to 65 mph (105 kph) were expected Tuesday, said Connor Smith, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Bismarck. High winds could make travel difficult and blow around unsecured objects, Christmas decorations and already fallen snow, he said.

Wintry weather was also expected to impact the evening commute in Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin, starting Tuesday afternoon and lasting into the night, said Ryan Dunleavy, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in the Twin Cities. Parts of central and northern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin could see heavy snow, with a mix of winter weather forecast across the Twin Cities metro and southwest Minnesota, with potentially strong winds to follow, Dunleavy said.

Commuters should allow for extra time traveling, he said. The storm is expected to head into the Great Lakes region by Wednesday.

This photo provided by Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue shows a crew using an inflatable kayak to rescue two people from a vehicle that was stranded by floodwaters, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Snohomish, Wash. (Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue via AP)

This photo provided by the Washington State Department of Transportation shows debris on Interstate 90 from a rainstorm Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Washington State Department of Transportation via AP)