The man suspected of gunning down a police officer near the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday has been named as 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White.
White, 30, of Kennesaw, Georgia, is suspected of killing DeKalb County Police Department Officer David Rose, 33, shortly before 5 p.m., the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said in an update on Saturday.
The deadly incident unfolded when White opened fire in front of the CDC campus, unleashing a barrage of bullets that pierced multiple windows.
A GBI image released Saturday showed dozens of shell casings scattered across the pavement.
The Dekalb County Police Department identified David Rose as the officer killed in a shooting outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) campus in Atlanta on Friday. (DeKalb County Police Department)
At least four CDC buildings were hit, Director Susan Monarez said in a post on X. Images shared by employees showed multiple agency buildings with bullet-pocked windows, underscoring the breadth of the damage to a site where thousands of scientists and staff work on critical disease research.
When officers responded to the location, they found Rose critically wounded and heard additional gunfire coming from a nearby CVS pharmacy. Rose was rushed to Emory University Hospital on Clifton Road where he died from his injuries.
Officers entered a nearby pharmacy and located the shooter on the second floor with at least one gunshot wound. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said it was not clear if the wound came from police gunfire or if it was self-inflicted.
The motive for the shooting is not known.
Without naming White Friday night, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens described him as a “known person that may have, some interest in certain things.”
The shooting took place on Clifton Rd. near the Emory University campus, which also houses a daycare with more than 90 children in its care. None of them were harmed.
An investigator looks at the crime scene where a Georgia police officer was shot dead. (Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI))
The GBI is now leading the investigation and the FBI’s Atlanta office said it is also assisting. The GBI said it is collecting evidence and conducting interviews as part of its investigation, which it said will take “an extended period of time.”
Officer Rose joined the DeKalb County Police Department in September 2024, graduated from the police academy in March and had quickly earned a reputation for dedication and professionalism, the department said in a statement. He previously served as a Marine in Afghanistan.
He is survived by his pregnant wife and two children, police said.
Interim Police Chief Greg Padrick said Rose was committed to serving the community.
Police officers stand outside the emergency room at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Friday. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
“At this time we’re asking for the community’s prayers for his family, his friends, his loved ones and the entire DeKalb County Police Department family,” he said in a statement Friday.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said his family is “mourning today’s tragic loss of Officer David Rose.”
“His service and memory will not be forgotten by a grateful state, and his loved ones and fellow @DeKalbCountyPD officers will remain in our hearts and prayers as they grieve his passing and this painful day,” Kemp wrote on X.
