CDC shooter believed COVID vaccine made him suicidal, his father tells police
Source: AP
Updated 6:54 PM EDT, August 9, 2025
ATLANTA (AP) A Georgia man who opened fire on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, shooting dozens of rounds into the sprawling complex and killing a police officer, had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The 30-year-old shooter also tried to get into the CDCs headquarters in Atlanta but was stopped by guards before driving to a pharmacy across the street and opening fire late Friday afternoon, the official said. He was armed with five guns, including at least one long gun, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was mortally wounded while responding.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose skepticism of vaccines has been a cornerstone of his career, voiced support for CDC employees Saturday. But some laid-off CDC employees said Kennedy shares responsibility for the violence and should resign.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/cdc-suspect-identified-georgia-officer-dead-2f8eba270597221e23d354164d5dbc0f

Irish_Dem
(75,200 posts)He is probably quite proud of himself.
agingdem
(8,649 posts)Last edited Sun Aug 10, 2025, 10:56 AM - Edit history (2)
the Republican Senate...Trump appointed RFK Jr. and the Senate approved his nomination...senators were well aware of Kennedy's insanity..they knew he intended to destroy the Department of Health and Human Resources and kill millions with his bizarre take on vaccines and yet they gave him a thumbs up...
Irish_Dem
(75,200 posts)And they are just getting started.
Hugin
(36,885 posts)
A f**king gun is a gun.
GiqueCee
(2,846 posts)... a long gun distinguishes a rifle or a shotgun from a handgun, like a pistol or a revolver. It's appropriate usage of the term.
paleotn
(20,907 posts)Cut the gunzsplaining.
GiqueCee
(2,846 posts)... to which I responded and maybe you'll understand.
Response to GiqueCee (Reply #19)
Post removed
Mysterian
(5,937 posts)The term "long gun" was reported in the article as this was the information provided by law enforcement. For some reason, another poster criticized the use of that term. GiqueCee said the term was properly used. And this causes you annoyance? Whatever.
paleotn
(20,907 posts)Jebus! Long gun, hand gun, microscopic gun, two pistol gripped pink polka dotted gun with orange feathers, so the fuck what? The type of firearm was irrelevant. THAT was their point. So the gunzsplaining, nomenclature rabbit hole you two want to drag us into is more than a bit silly in this context. Why is that so hard for you to understand? Why?
Response to Post removed (Reply #20)
Post removed
marble falls
(68,665 posts)... destructive than a pistol or revolver. And much more accurately aimed if one is inclined to fire at a building across the street. Ever wonder why SWAT and snipers use long arms and not pistols or revolvers?
That said: I want to be hit by neither.
Lets play tag in the woods. I get an AR-15 and you get the 9MM pistol of your choice.
That my friend is the fucking difference.
Giving you information you don't seem to have is not gunsplaining, it's giving you facts to inform your opinion.
BidenRocks
(2,252 posts)Personally I wouldn't classify a weapon designed for urban warfare with a short barrel as a long anything. AR? No.
Semantics if you get shot.
marble falls
(68,665 posts)... and this is an AR15 pistol, a further cut down carbine.
?c=2
M4 pistol.
marble falls
(68,665 posts)Hugin
(36,885 posts)Probably, not.
I have a 12" target shooter with a rifled barrel. Is that considered a long pistol?
marble falls
(68,665 posts)... or even specifically AR-15s do. Do you ever win an argument by offering an exception?
No doubt. The next thing you'll bring up will weapons like the AR-15 pistol. Which is no pistol, it's a sawed off long rifle, an AR-15.
Plinking cans with a .22 was one the things I've always enjoyed. I learned gun safety after school from the NRA, I gave my girls their first hand guns - two cork guns. And disarmed them when I caught them shooting at the dog. Gun are tools and tools aren't for play. We had a CO2 pistol we would sit on the back steps and shoot at cardboard box. There was always a shotgun in corner, a single shot 12GA. I figured that in a small town that hadn't had a murder in over 100 years, it'd make a fine club to uninvite an intruder with.
There's no fucking need for so many long rifles to be in the hands of so many whackadoodles.
Walleye
(42,586 posts)OldBaldy1701E
(9,095 posts)NowsTheTime
(1,202 posts)MrWowWow
(1,323 posts)BumRushDaShow
(160,557 posts)mdbl
(7,404 posts)twodogsbarking
(15,926 posts)JustAnotherGen
(37,092 posts)bucolic_frolic
(52,456 posts)Dude believed causation existed between a vaccine and the thoughts in his head. I mean why not blame your diet? Or the music and TV shows you watch? Or a bad night's sleep? Thirty years old you ought to have some of this stuff sorted out.
lonely bird
(2,548 posts)Was the guy having mental health issues long before CoVid? What responsibility falls on Qanon and the CoVid vaccine conspiracy theorists?
70sEraVet
(4,916 posts)to hear people talk about the evils of the Covid vaccine. When I tell them that the vaccine probably saved a million lives, they look at me with pity -- like I'm the one who fell for crazy theories!
It's much like a religion, where you must not waver in your beliefs.
Mysterian
(5,937 posts)to convince these stupid motherfuckers that their TV and podcasts have been lying to them.
andym
(6,037 posts)don't discount how much of a role this plays.
paleotn
(20,907 posts)Tots and pears for the dead cop I suppose. Small price to pay because "I need my gunz because...well....I need my gunz." What a fucked up country.
travelingthrulife
(3,321 posts)twodogsbarking
(15,926 posts)Mysterian
(5,937 posts)In this maniac's head, he thought "I'm going out, but I'm taking some of these evil CDC monsters with me!"
mackdaddy
(1,870 posts)The Vax helps your body fight off the infection when you are exposed. It never prevented you from having the virus attack.
Many had mild or even no noticeable symptoms, especially after having the vaccine. That does not mean you could not get long COVID problems.
For these people the problem is getting vaccinated, not the idiot coughing in their face.
womanofthehills
(10,396 posts)FDA Approves Required Updated Warning in Labeling of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Regarding Myocarditis and Pericarditis Following Vaccination
Specifically, FDA has required each manufacturer to update the warning about the risks of myocarditis and pericarditis to include information about (1) the estimated unadjusted incidence of myocarditis and/or pericarditis following administration of the 2023-2024 Formula of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and (2) the results of a study that collected information on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cardiac MRI) in people who developed myocarditis after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. FDA also required each manufacturer to describe the new safety information in the Adverse Reactions section of the Prescribing Information and in the Information for Recipients and Caregivers.
https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/fda-approves-required-updated-warning-labeling-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-regarding-myocarditis-and
IronLionZion
(49,933 posts)
The good guy with a gun probably didn't appreciate being murdered by the bad guy with a gun.
bronxiteforever
(10,782 posts)rickyhall
(5,483 posts)twodogsbarking
(15,926 posts)LisaL
(47,326 posts)NT
Botany
(75,336 posts)..and then the GOP and our Christo Fascists and their "Pastors" push this misinformation to the 35% or more Americans who are fucking
brain dead mouth breathers and believe those lies because their brains are made up of the stuff that you find inside of a fig newton.
Russia spreads those lies about scientific facts in order to weaken America from within. And you get a mentally ill person with a gun
who decides to fight for his freedoms.
All those who drowned from the flooding along the Guadeloupe River died because of the same sort of disinformation. I really
saw a clip of some Texan with shit for brains saying the shouldn't build a flood warning system because the money is coming
from Joe Biden and he is a communist. And so the PTB in Kerr County decided not to build a flash flood warning system however
they kept the money so it wouldn't go to some liberal place.
sorry to