Police Officer, Suspect Confirmed Dead After Shooting Near Atlanta-Based Centers For Disease Control (CDC)

ATLANTA: A police officer is dead after a gunman opened fire in Atlanta as the work day wrapped up Friday, apparently targeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention main campus.

Bullet damage was seen in the walls and windows of buildings on the CDC campus. A suspect is dead, according to Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum.

“We at CDC are heartbroken by today’s attack on our Roybal Campus, which remains on lockdown as authorities investigate the shooting,” CDC’s director Susan Monarez said in a statement late Friday night. “A courageous local law enforcement officer gave their life, and another was injured, after a gunman opened fire on at least four CDC buildings.”

Police said the suspect opened fire shortly before 5 p.m. Friday from a building in Emory Point, a mixed-use development near Emory University and the CDC. The officer who died was shot while responding to the scene and died of his injuries at a hospital.

Nearby residents reported fear and chaos as businesses went into lockdown and residents sheltered in place. More than 90 young children were in a day care center on the CDC campus during the attack. Police said no children were harmed and teachers were working to reunite the kids with anxious parents at a nearby school into Friday night.

Friday’s attack comes on the heels of a Wednesday shooting at Fort Stewart near Savannah, where an Army sergeant opened fire, injuring five fellow soldiers. Other high-profile shootings have rocked Georgia in recent years, including last year’s attack at Apalachee High School in Winder, which claimed four lives.

State Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Lilburn Democrat and microbiology professor at Emory, said she wasn’t on campus at the time of the attack but learned about it through a text message sent to students and faculty notifying them of the active shooter situation and advising them to “Run. Hide. Fight.”

“As a professor at Emory University, and a parent, I am horrified that this took place in a place where I recently stood with CDC protesters, next to a day care center full of small children, and just weeks before thousands of students are set to return for the first day of classes,” said Clark, who is also running for Congress in Georgia’s 13th District.

Clark called on her colleagues to support legislation aimed at improving gun safety.

“The Legislature could do so much with the political courage and political will to fight gun violence,” she said. “While we don’t know much about the shooter and about the motives, what we do know is ‘guns everywhere’ policies do not make our communities safer, and also put the lives of law enforcement at risk.”

In the wake of Apalachee and other high-profile shootings, Georgia Democrats have called for tightening regulations, including by requiring gun owners to safely secure firearms. In recent years,  Georgia’s GOP-dominated Legislature has moved toward loosening gun laws, including ending a state permit requirement to carry concealed handguns in 2022.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, who is running for governor next year, recently signed on in support of a lawsuit against Savannah Mayor Van Johnson over a law penalizing gun owners from leaving firearms in unlocked cars.

State Sen. Elena Parent, an Atlanta Democrat whose district includes Emory and the CDC, indicated Democrats in the Legislature will resume pushing for tighter gun regulations when lawmakers reconvene in January.

“The availability of guns has endangered the lives of thousands of people at the CDC and Emory, which is exactly why I have fought so hard for gun reform,” she said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Republicans have been an obstacle as they endanger our communities by passing laws to make guns more prevalent and deadly in the state of Georgia.”

“This is yet another stark reminder of why we must continue to fight for gun safety legislation,” she added.

In public statements, the state’s top Republican lawmakers focused on honoring the bravery of the first responders who stopped the shooters in the two recent attacks.

“Twice this week, deranged criminals have targeted innocent Georgians,” Gov. Brian Kemp said in a social media post shortly after Friday’s attack. “Each time, brave first responders rushed toward the danger to subdue the shooter and save lives, reminding us of just how crucial they are. Marty, the girls, and I are thankful for all those who answer the call to serve and who protect their fellow Georgians. We ask that you join us in holding them in our prayers, along with those harmed this evening near the CDC Center.”

• The story is credited Ross Williams of GEORGIA RECORDER