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CDC shooting: 3 public health emergencies collide
How gun violence, mental health, and misinformation converged in tragedy.
Rebecca Grapevine
August 14, 2025
Hi, Atlanta!
More than 100 people gathered this week in an Emory University auditorium, trying to make sense of the violence that shook the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campus next door.
Daniele Fallin, dean of Emory's Rollins School of Public Health, explained Friday's shooting — which killed a police officer and traumatized CDC workers as their buildings came under fire — as a convergence of three public health problems: gun violence, shortfalls in mental health care, and misinformation about vaccines.
The gunman, who died from a self-inflicted shot, had reportedly had mental health issues and believed the Covid vaccine had harmed him.
“The events of Friday are a stark example of a link between misinformation and violence. The consequences go far beyond one day,” Dr. Sofia Chaudhary, a pediatric emergency room physician and professor at Emory, said at the Tuesday forum organized by Georgia Clinicians for Gun Safety and Georgia Majority for Gun Safety. “We must treat misinformation not just as a communications issue but as a public health emergency in its own right.”
Several CDC workers told me national leaders like vaccine opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now secretary of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency, had normalized misinformation. They don’t trust national leaders to protect them, or their work.
CDC workers have been increasingly speaking out about their concerns, even as they fear retaliation at their jobs.
“I feel compelled to speak out on behalf of my colleagues who have been severely traumatized by this event,” Dr. Anna Yousaf, a current employee, said during a Sunday rally at Piedmont Park. “My life was put at risk, and every public health worker's life is at risk, and it is unacceptable, and we cannot stay silent.”
The impact of the shooting will be long-lasting, said Abby Tighe, a CDC worker who was fired earlier this year and whose son was among the 92 children locked down at The Clifton School, a preschool on the CDC campus, during the shooting.
“This experience with gun violence didn't end when we were reunited. It's something myself, my family, and all of the families and staff at The Clifton School and CDC have to now process and cope with every day,” Tighe said.
More than 100 people attended a forum Tuesday evening organized by Georgia Clinicians for Gun Safety and Georgia Majority for Gun Safety. (Rebecca Grapevine / Healthbeat)
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ICYMI
Here’s a recap of the latest reporting from Healthbeat:
Trauma, turmoil at CDC: 'Is this the last straw?' Shooting adds to trauma as CDC workers describe projects, careers in limbo
Not standing down: Run. Hide. Fight. What the CDC shooting means for public health
Republished from Georgia Recorder: Emory University contract cut in Trump administration’s mRNA vaccine research ‘wind-down’
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In health,
Rebecca
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