A gunman opened fire in Atlanta on Friday afternoon, near the campuses of both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University, killing a police officer who was responding to calls of an active shooter, officials said.
Officers found the suspect with gunshot wounds on the second floor of a building that houses a CVS Pharmacy. He died from his injuries at the scene, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said.
Here’s what we know about the shooting.
How did the the shooting unfold?
Schierbaum said 911 calls about an active shooter came in around 4:50 p.m. for 1600 Clifton Road, in front of the CDC campus. Around that same time, nearby Emory University sent out an alert that there was an active shooter situation on campus. Both Emory and the CDC’s Roybal campus were locked down.
When officers responded to the scene, Schierbaum said they found a critically injured DeKalb County officer. He was taken to Emory University Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Schierbaum said officers heard gunfire inside a CVS at a retail and apartment complex at the intersection, and went inside the building to try to locate the shooter.
The suspect was found on the second floor. Schierbaum said he had been hit by gunfire, but that officers are not sure if the wounds were self-inflicted or from police.
He died at the scene, Schierbaum said. His identity has not been publicly released.
Were there any victims?
The injured DeKalb County police officer died from his injuries, said Greg Padrick, the interim chief of the DeKalb County Police Department.
The DeKalb County Police Department identified the officer as David Rose, 33. He joined the department in September.
“He was committed to serving the community. At this time we are asking for the community’s prayers,” Padrick said. “It’s a noble profession we all do. We answer the call to serve our community and he gave his life to a commitment to serve others.”
He leaves behind a wife and two children with one on the way, DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said.
“There is a mother and a father, as well as siblings, who also share in this traumatic loss,” she said.
No civilians were injured in the shooting, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said. A representative for CVS said no one at their store was hurt.
Four other people took themselves to the hospital where they were treated for stress and anxiety symptoms, Schierbaum said.
CDC building struck
CDC Director Susan Monarez said four of the campus’ buildings were hit during the shooting. Officials were not aware of any injuries that occurred there.
Monarez said she is “heartbroken by today’s attack” and thanked local officials for “helping to prevent further harm to our staff and community.”
She said the CDC campus was locked down as officials investigated the shooting.
Schierbaum said investigators are looking at whether rounds fired at the CDC buildings were purposeful.
“Multiple rounds were fired, both we believe at law enforcement and potentially at the CDC,” he said.
Was there a motive?
Asked if it was believed that the shooter targeted the CDC, Dickens said the investigation is in the preliminary stages and that he could not say more about a possible motive.
He referred to the suspect as “a known person that may have some interests in certain things, that I can’t reiterate right know with any confidence until the investigation is fully conducted.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe into the shooting, officials said.
What have officials said?
Gov. Brian Kemp denounced the shooting, the second in the state in one week.
“Twice this week, deranged criminals have targeted innocent Georgians,” Kemp said on X, referring to a shooting at the Army post Fort Stewart two days earlier.
He thanked the “brave first responders” who “rushed toward the danger to subdue the shooter and save lives, reminding us of just how crucial they are.”
“We ask that you join us in holding them in our prayers, along with those harmed this evening near the CDC Center,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said he was monitoring the shooting and was praying for the officer who was killed and all students and faculty.
“I am devastated that our community is facing yet another tragedy of gun violence,” Warnock wrote on X.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency would offer full support to Georgia officials in the wake of the shooting.
“Pray for the family, friends, and colleagues of this hero who acted quickly to defend others and made the ultimate sacrifice,” Patel said on X.
Dickens said that gun violence like the kind that erupted Friday, shows there needs to be a national conversation about gun violence.
“Mass shootings, active shooter scenarios should not become the norm,” Dickens said.
Second shooting in Georgia in one week
Friday’s shooting comes two days after an active-duty solider wounded five service members at Fort Stewart before a group of witnesses subdued him, officials said.
Quornelius Radford, 28, an automated logistics sergeant, is believed to have opened fire Wednesday with a personal handgun before he was taken into custody, said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart Hunter Army Airfield.
The victims were not publicly identified but were said to be Radford’s coworkers at the base, which is 40 miles southwest of Savannah.
Three of the five who were injured have been released from the hospital, which Lubas said Thursday was “amazing considering the circumstances and the ranges of which they were engaged.”
The two who remain hospitalized are expected to recover, Lubas said.
Lubas said it was not clear what prompted the shooting.
Radford was the subject of bullying over his stutter almost as soon as he joined the military, former co-workers said.
