Man fired 180 shots, shattering 150 windows, in CDC attack
It may take weeks or even months to replace windows and clean up the damage, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention personnel said.
A Georgia man who had blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal opened fire late Friday, killing a police officer. No one at CDC was injured.
The shooter was stopped by CDC security guards before driving to a nearby pharmacy and opening fire late Friday afternoon, a law enforcement official has told the AP. The official wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. The 30-year-old man, Patrick Joseph White, later died, but authorities haven't said whether he was killed by police or killed himself.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to Atlanta and on Monday met with the agency's director, Susan Monarez.
Monarez posted a statement on social media Friday night that said at least four CDC buildings were hit in the attack.
The extent of the damage became more clear during a weekend CDC leadership meeting. Two CDC employees who were told about what was discussed at the meeting described details to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to reveal the information. Details also were also in an agency memo seen by an AP reporter.
Building 21, which houses Monarez's office, was hit by the largest number of bullets. CDC officials did not say if her office was hit.
CDC employees were advised to work from home this week.
Kennedy issued a statement Saturday that said 'no one should face violence while working to protect the health of others,' and that top federal health officials were 'actively supporting CDC staff.'
He did not speak to the media during his visit Monday.
A retired CDC official, Stephan Monroe, said he worried about the long-term impact the attack would have on young scientists' willingness to go to work for the government.
'I'm concerned that this is this is going to be a generational hit,' said Monroe, speaking to a reporter near the corner where a poster had been set up in honor of David Rose, the officer who was killed.
Kennedy was a leader in a national anti-vaccine movement before President Donald Trump selected him to oversee federal health agencies, and has made false and misleading statements about the safety and effectiveness of about COVID-19 shots and other vaccines.
Years of false rhetoric about vaccines and public health was bound to 'take a toll on people's mental health,' and 'leads to violence,' said Tim Young, a CDC employee who retired in April.
Dr. Jerome Adams, the U.S. surgeon general during President Donald Trump's first administration, said Sunday that health leaders should appreciate the weight of their words.
'We have to understand people are listening,' Adams told 'Face the Nation' on CBS. 'When you make claims that have been proven false time and time again about safety and efficacy of vaccines, that can cause unintended consequences.'
___
AP reporters Alanna Durkin Richer and Charlotte Kramon contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Vancouver Sun
2 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Opinion: Renewing long-term care needs a balance of quality and quantity
Canada's long-term care sector is in the midst of an unprecedented boom, with federal and provincial governments investing billions to fund the development of new facilities. In Ontario, for example, the government has committed to building 30,000 beds by 2028. In B.C., plans are underway to replace or build 5,070 publicly subsidized beds by 2030. Similarly, Nova Scotia has committed to adding or modernizing 5,700 long-term care beds by 2032. To meet the demands of an aging population, the Canadian Medical Association has estimated that 199,000 new beds will be needed by 2035, costing $64 billion in capital. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. This investment is both urgent and necessary. But the investment requires more than beds alone. Building more beds has received far greater attention than supporting the care that residents need. Equal emphasis must be placed on improving quality of care, otherwise we risk scaling up the very problems we set out to solve. A clear example of this challenge is the ongoing use of antipsychotic medications in long-term care. These medications are often prescribed to manage behaviours in residents with dementia, even when there is no diagnosis, such as schizophrenia, that would warrant their use. This is considered inappropriate and can lead to serious harms, including sedation, falls, strokes and even death. Despite years of awareness and improvement efforts, Canada's rate of antipsychotic prescribing in long-term care has climbed following the COVID pandemic. Currently, 24.5 per cent of residents are prescribed these drugs when there is not a diagnosis to indicate their use. This is more than double the rate in the U.S. at 10 per cent and well above the 18 per cent in Australia and 15 per cent in Sweden. These differences point to a care system that is stretched thin, where medications are sometimes used as a substitute for time, training or resources to provide more personalized care. In response to these rising rates, a national coalition has set a target to reduce inappropriate antipsychotic use in Canadian long-term care homes to 15 per cent . Developed by an expert panel through a months-long consensus process, this is an achievable and necessary goal. But meeting it requires reinvestment not only in where care is delivered, but how it is delivered. This includes investing in training in behavioural support and dementia care. It means providing enough staffing hours, so care teams have the time to build relationships and understand resident needs. It also requires clear accountability supports in long-term care to sustain improvement efforts. We already know these approaches work. Across Canada, many homes have successfully implemented behavioural approaches that reduce reliance on medications while improving resident well-being. Music therapy, access to outdoor space, one-on-one engagement and meaningful recreational activities have all been shown to support residents with responsive behaviours without the need for antipsychotics. These approaches not only improve symptoms safely but treat residents with the care and dignity they deserve. Canada has an opportunity to renew long-term care. The success of this reinvestment must be measured not only by how many beds we add, but how well those beds are staffed, how care teams are supported, and how our residents are treated. Prioritizing quality alongside quantity is the only way to deliver not just more care, but better care. Dr. Wendy Levinson is chair of Choosing Wisely Canada and a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
VA hospitals are finding it harder to fill jobs, watchdog says
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Government-run medical centers serving the nation's veterans have reported an increase in severe staffing shortages, with many hospitals having trouble filling jobs for doctors, nurses and psychologists, according to an independent watchdog for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Tuesday's report from the VA's Office of Inspector General is based on surveys from late March and early April that were taken at 139 Veterans Health Administration facilities. Severe staffing shortages are not necessarily an indication of vacancies but refer to particular occupations that are difficult to fill. The surveys were taken just weeks after it was reported in early March that the VA had planned to cut 80,000 jobs — out of 484,000 — through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. The VA later reduced the figure to nearly 30,000 jobs to be cut by this fiscal year's end on Sept. 30. President Donald Trump's administration said Tuesday that the surveys are unreliable because they do not reflect actual vacancies, which VA officials said were in line with historical averages. But Democratic lawmakers warned that veterans won't get the health care they need as VA positions become harder to fill. The surveys reflected a 50% increase in the reporting of severe staffing shortages for specific jobs, both for clinical occupations that include doctors and psychologists and for non-clinical jobs that include police and custodial workers. Nearly all of the facilities — 94% — reported a shortage for medical officer occupations that include doctors, while 79% reported shortages for nurses. The report noted that severe shortages for medical officers and nurses have been identified every year in the report since 2014. Pete Kasperowicz, the VA's press secretary, stressed in an email that the report is not based on vacancies and is therefore 'not a reliable indicator of staffing shortages.' 'The report simply lists occupations facilities feel are difficult for which to recruit and retain, so the results are completely subjective, not standardized and unreliable,' Kasperowicz wrote. He said that vacancy rates for doctors and nurses are 14% and 10%, respectively, which he said are lower than most other health care systems and in line with 'normal VA historical averages.' But Jacqueline Simon, policy director for the American Federation of Government Employees, said the surveys reflect the Trump administration's profound hostility toward the federal workforce and what she said are its plans to ultimately privatize the VA. 'This is a deliberate effort to incapacitate and to undermine veterans' support for and approval of the care they receive in VA hospitals and clinics,' Simon said. 'They'll have to wait much longer for appointments. There won't be specialists available. They'll have no choice but to go to the private sector.' Simon also noted the VA's announcement last week that it was terminating collective bargaining agreements for most VA bargaining-unit employees, which could further hurt recruitment. The VA said in a news release that the move will 'make it easier for VA leaders to promote high-performing employees, hold poor performers accountable, and improve benefits and services to America's Veterans.' But U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said in a news release Tuesday that the Trump administration has made it harder for public servants to do their jobs 'and ultimately harder for veterans to get the care they've earned.' 'We also know from recent jobs reports that applications to work at the VA are plummeting,' said Warner, a Democrat who represents the veteran-dense state of Virginia. 'How do skyrocketing staffing shortages and declining applicant pools make it more 'efficient' for veterans to access the care and services they deserve? The answer is: they don't.'
Winnipeg Free Press
8 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Scientists standing by to rescue rare manatee sighted in cold New England waters
BOSTON (AP) — A manatee was recently spotted off the coast of Massachusetts for the first time in almost a decade and scientists want to monitor its condition to see if a rescue is necessary before it succumbs to the cold water or lack of food, they said Friday. The threatened species, which makes its habitat in warmer southern Gulf waters in places like Florida, was first seen July 26 off the southwestern coast of Cape Cod in the area of Nantucket Sound. Mashpee resident Jennifer Sullivan took a video of it swimming alongside paddle boarders in an inlet behind a marina surrounded by sea grass. She said on Monday that she found the manatee, which was as long and wide as her paddleboard, 'just lazing around there in the grass going as slowly as possible.' 'It was completely unfazed by us,' said Sullivan, who went on to say she felt 'just in awe of how graceful the creature was and to be so close in the wild to it.' A few days later, the animal was seen stranded on the tidal flats in Mattapoisett. Bystanders who found the manatee beached on the flats around sunrise pushed it back into the water, said Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Protected Species Program Manager Erin Burke. It hasn't been spotted since, Burke said, but a team with the International Fund for Animal Welfare is standing by to rescue the animal if it becomes necessary. The species prefers swimming in warmer waters, usually traveling only as far north as the Carolinas. If the manatee stays in water that is too cold for too long, it could suffer severe illness or death, said New England Aquarium Research Scientist Dr. Nadine Lysiak. Additionally, manatees are herbivores that sustain themselves on extensive seagrass beds and mangroves not typically found in New England. 'Even if it doesn't experience cold stunning, it may have some health declines associated with not having enough food, not having enough water,' she said. 'So it's important to intervene as soon as it's sighted again to prevent health declines.' Lysiak said it's unclear how and why the manatee found its way so far north. It may have followed the warm water Gulf Stream current system from Florida up past the Carolinas and eventually found its way to New England, she said. 'We have kind of an average understanding of what a wild population does in terms of their range, or their habitat range, and some individuals will go beyond that and maybe wander or seek out other habitats or other food sources,' she said. 'It's hard to know exactly why this manatee came to Cape Cod.' Manatee sightings are uncommon in New England, but not unheard of. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. In 2008 and 2009, different manatees were sighted in Cape Cod Bay — the furthest north the animals have ever been identified. Both were eventually rescued, with one dying on the trip to Florida for rehabilitation. The other survived the trip south, living until 2018. In 2016, a manatee was spotted off the coast of Falmouth. In 2023, one of the animals was seen in Rhode Island. Anyone who sees the manatee is asked to document their GPS position and call the stranding network hotline, (508) 743-9548. Sullivan said she feels 'blessed that I could be in the right place and the right time to see the creature,' and she's hoping it's healthy and safe. 'I pray he just turned right around and went back south,' she said.
