The Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the man who opened fire at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as Patrick Joseph White. White died and a police officer was shot and killed.

"Kennedy is directly responsible for the villainization of CDC's workforce through his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust," one ex-employee wrote, according to the Associated Press news agency.

The shooting in Atlanta, which killed a police officer, followed the spread of false information around Covid vaccines and animosity directed at the agency, public health workers say.