The gunman who initiated the shooting at the CDC in Atlanta tried to gain access to the main building but was stopped by security personnel, officials disclosed on Sunday.

Patrick Joseph White, aged 30, was armed with five firearms, including at least one rifle, when he was barred from entering. As a result, he drove over to a CVS nearby, where he commenced his shooting spree.

The incident caused chaos near the CDC headquarters, impacting at least four structures within the facility’s grounds and instilling fear among employees and Emory University students in the vicinity. 

While responding to the scene as bullets rang and shattered windows, DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, 33, was shot and killed by the culprit. 

White was later confirmed dead amid the gunfire. No civilians were injured by his rampage, although workers and 92 children at the campus daycare were locked down until the late night. 

A union representing CDC workers, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said the incident was not random and ‘compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured.’

It demanded federal officials condemn vaccine misinformation, saying it was putting scientists at risk. 

This statement comes after it was revealed the shooter was an anti-vaxxer who blamed a recent illness on the COVID-19 vaccine, which was promoted by the CDC.

He claimed the vaccine made him feel suicidal and depressed, the Associated Press reported. 

White’s father sounded the alarm to police that his son was the possible shooter.

He said White was upset over the death of his dog and had become fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the law enforcement official.

White’s neighbor told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the shooter told her on several occasions that he distrusted the vaccines. 

‘He was very unsettled, and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people,’ Nancy Hoalst, told the Atlanta outlet. ‘He emphatically believed that.’

But Hoalst said she never believed White would be violent. 

White was found on the second floor of a building across the street from the CDC campus and died at the scene, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said.

He added that is was unclear if White turned the gun on himself or if an officer had shot him. 

But due to the complexity of the crime scene, the investigation is expected to take an ‘extended period of time,’ according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations. 

Meanwhile, the AFGE has asserted the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must provide a ‘clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation.’

Fired But Fighting, a group of laid-off CDC employees, has said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is directly responsible for the villainization of CDC´s workforce.

They claimed he has lied about vaccine safety and fueled a ‘climate of hostility and mistrust.’ 

Kennedy reached out to staff on Saturday, saying ‘no one should face violence while working to protect the health of others.’ 

The union has argued that until all the windows are repaired and the site is totally secured, staffers should not be mandated to immediately return for work.  

It also called for ‘perimeter security on all campuses until the investigation is over and reviewed by the CDC. 

Rose, who lost his life during the gut-wrenching attack, had just joined the police force in September. 

He leaves behind a pregnant wife and two children. 

‘This evening, there is a wife without a husband. There are three children, one unborn, without a father,’ DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson said during a press conference.

‘There is a mother and a father, as well as siblings who also share in this traumatic loss. Let’s join together to give this family the support it needs.’