Man who killed police officer in CDC shooting died from self-inflicted gunshot

FBI agents respond to the shooting at the campus of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Ben Hendren/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/PA)

The man who fired more than 180 shots at the headquarters of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta last week died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing a police officer, officials have said.

Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) director Chris Hosey said documents found in a search of suspect Patrick Joseph White’s home “expressed the shooter’s discontent with the Covid 19 vaccinations” ahead of the August 8 attack.

White had written about wanting to make “the public aware of his discontent with the vaccine,” Mr Hosey said.

The 30-year-old had also recently verbalised thoughts of suicide which led to law enforcement being contacted several weeks before the shooting, Mr Hosey said.

Swat team members walk inside the scene of the shooting (Ben Hendren/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP/PA)

White’s family was fully co-operating with the investigation, authorities said at a news briefing on Tuesday. White had no known criminal history, Mr Hosey said.

Executing a search warrant at White’s home, authorities recovered written documents that are being analysed and seized electronic devices that are undergoing a forensic examination, the agency said.

Investigators also recovered a total of five firearms, along with other critical evidence.

Mr Hosey said White broke into a secured safe to get the weapons, including a gun that belonged to his father that he used in the attack.

“More than 500 shell casings have been recovered from the crime scene,” the GBI said in a statement Tuesday.

Officials are conducting a threat assessment to the CDC facility and making sure they notify officials of any threats.