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

A man of Georgia who had blamed the COVVI-19 vaccine for having made him depressed and suicidal was identified as the shooter who opened fire on Friday evening on the siege of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, killing a police officer.

The 30 -year -old suspect, who died during the attack, also tried to enter the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, but was arrested by guards before going to a pharmacy on the other side of the street and open fire, said a law enforcement.

The man, identified as Patrick Joseph White, was armed with five cannons, including at least a long pistol, said the manager, speaking on condition of anonymity because of not being authorized to discuss the investigation.

A union representing CDC workers said that the shooting was not random and “made up of the months of ill -treatment, negligence and dissemination that CDC staff have endured”. He demanded that federal officials condemn the disinformation of vaccines, saying that he endangered scientists.

Here is what you need to know about the shooting and the investigation continues:

According to police, White opened fire outside the CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Friday, leaving bullet marks in windows on the sprawling campus. At least four CDC buildings have been affected, said director Susan Monarez on X.

David Rose’s county police officer was fatally injured during the answer. Rose, 33, a former sailor who served in Afghanistan, graduated from the police academy in March.

White was found on the second floor of a building opposite the CDC campus and died on the scene, said Atlanta police chief Darin Schierbaum. The police chief added that “we do not know for the moment if it came from officers or if it was self-inflicted.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations said that the crime scene was “complex” and that the investigation would take “an extended period”.

The American Federation of Government employees, the Local 2883 section said that the CDC and the Directorate of the Ministry of Health and Social Services must provide a “clear and unequivocal position to condemn the disinformation of vaccines”.

Such a public statement by federal officials is necessary to help prevent violence against scientists, the union said in a press release.

“Their leadership is essential to strengthen public confidence and guarantee that precise and scientific information prevails,” said the union.

Priced but fighting, a group of CDC licensed employees, said that HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy contacted the staff on Saturday, saying: “No one should face violence while working to protect the health of others”.

In a statement provided on Monday, HHS communications director Andrew Nixon said Kennedy “has unequivocally condemned the horrible attack and remains fully determined to ensure the safety and well-being of CDC employees.” Nixon added that “rose sacrifice to protect the darkest CDC will never be forgotten”.

Thousands of people working on research on critical diseases are employed on campus. The union said that some staff members had been huddled in various buildings until late at night, while more than 90 young children who were locked up inside the CDC Clifton school.

The union said that CDC staff should not be required to return to work immediately after having lived such a traumatic event. In a statement published on Saturday, he said that windows and buildings should first be corrected and made “completely secure”.

“The staff should not be required to work next to the ball holes,” said the union. “Forcing a return in these conditions risks re-tasting the staff by exposing them to the reminders of the horrible shooting they have endured.”

The union also called for “the security of the perimeter on all campuses” until the investigation is fully completed and shared with the staff.

White’s father contacted the police and identified his son as the possible shooter. The father said that his son had been turned upside down by the death of his dog and had also become obsessed with the COVVI-19 vaccine, according to the law enforcement.

A neighbor of White told Atlanta Journia-Constitution that White “seemed to be a good guy” but spoke to him several times about his distrust of COVVI-19 vaccines in unrelated conversations.

“He was very unstable, and he believed very deeply that the vaccines injured him and hurt the others,” Nancy Hoalst told Atlanta Journal. “He believed it with category with force.”

But Hoalst said that she had never believed that White would be violent: “I did not know that he thought he would withdraw him on the CDC.”