WASHINGTON — Leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday told staff that the agency’s campus had reopened in the wake of the Friday attack by a gunman — and suggested more security measures would be put in place.
On the call with staff of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, reviewed by STAT, employees recounted emotional, harrowing experiences and asked about “misinformation” that may have influenced the shooter, as well about health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s response to the crisis. CDC leaders, for their part, offered first steps for their responses, including expanded mental health support and security reviews.
“We are going to do a full security assessment,” Dr. Susan Monarez, the agency’s newly confirmed director, told staff on the call. “There was a lot that went right. There was a lot that we want to make sure that we put in place so that when you do return, that everyone can feel safe and supported.”
A CDC employee, however, questioned Monarez on what went right in the response, saying from where she was sheltering in place, she did not have that sense.
“I was one of the ones that was stuck there last night, and I hear what you’re saying that a lot of things went right, and I don’t doubt that, but being there, I didn’t see that or feel that until I saw the SWAT team,” said the woman, audibly struggling to hold back tears. “So I think it would be helpful to know what went right so that we feel like we weren’t just sitting ducks.”
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In an email to staff later Saturday, Christa Capozzola, acting chief operating officer, confirmed that the CDC had been the shooter’s target. “What we know about the incident now is that this was a targeted attack on CDC related to Covid,” she said.
More details emerged Saturday about the gunman and the shootings. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said he was Patrick Joseph White, a 30-year-old from Kennesaw, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb about 25 miles northwest of CDC headquarters.
The Associated Press, citing an anonymous law enforcement official, said the suspect’s father had contacted police and said his son might be the shooter. According to the official, the AP reported, the father said his son had been upset over the death of his dog and had become fixated on the Covid-19 vaccine, blaming it as making him depressed and suicidal.
Since the shooting, two additional security teams have been mobilized on the CDC campus, according to an internal email reviewed by STAT, though investigators believe the shooter acted alone. Local and federal law enforcement are conducting “intensive monitoring” of all present or past threats to CDC, according to the email.
Other employees recounted harrowing experiences on the call.
“I happened to actually see the individual before and during the actual shooting,” another employee said, asking how they might best address similar situations should they arise in the future.
Agency workers who were trapped in the building are being offered “liberal” administrative leave, and there are efforts at the agency to expand the capacity of the Employee Assistance Program in the aftermath of the shooting, the leaders said.
Another employee asked whether Kennedy had been in communication with Monarez or how agency leaders would address the misinformation that was suspected to be a motive of the shooter.
“Dr. Monarez, have you spoken to Secretary Kennedy?” the person asked. “Do you expect Secretary Kennedy to make a statement about this, and are you able to speak to the misinformation — the disinformation — that caused this issue, and what your plan forward is to ensure this doesn’t happen again?”
Monarez said CDC leaders have “been in direct contact with the Office of the Secretary” through Friday night and Saturday morning, adding that it’s a “fluid and dynamic situation.”
CDC shaken after gunman attacks its headquarters
The employee followed up by asking if Monarez had been in direct communication with Kennedy himself.
“It’s a good question. We’ve been in constant communication with the Office of the Secretary, and more will be coming,” Monarez said.
On Saturday, Kennedy, who has been in Alaska meeting with tribal and state leaders, posted a statement on X saying he was “deeply saddened” by the shooting and that leaders “remain united in our mission to protect and improve the health of every American.” (The statement came half an hour after Kennedy, on his personal X account, posted photos from a fishing trip with members of the Cook Inlet Tribal Council.) Kennedy also emailed all HHS staff Saturday morning, saying he was sending prayers “to the entire CDC family.”
“We’ll get through this the same way we approach our mission — together,” he said, signing off the missive “in solidarity.”
Fired But Fighting, a group of HHS employees terminated during the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government, released a statement Friday calling for Kennedy to resign, arguing that he is “directly responsible for the villainization of CDC’s workforce through his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust.”
HHS officials did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Agency leaders also noted the campus itself had reopened — though substantially changed by the event. Facilities were damaged in the shooting and law enforcement efforts to clear and secure the buildings.
“It’s important for us to recognize that the campus is not going to feel ready to get back to,” one official said.
On Friday, the AP quoting the law enforcement official as saying, the shooter had tried to get onto the CDC campus but was stopped by guards. He then drove to the CVS across the street and started firing at CDC buildings, leaving bullet holes in at least four. He was armed with five guns, including a long gun.
Agency leaders told staff they would be collecting a donation for the family of the officer who died during the shooting to express their support.
The call ended with officials saying they needed to join a call on security issues.
“I am sorry this has happened,” Debra Houry, CDC’s deputy director for program and science and chief medical officer, said. “We’re mad this has happened.”
