One year after shooting, CDC workers say they still feel like targets

A Year of Shadows: CDC Employees Still Grapple with Trauma After Campus Shooting

Sandego.net – It has been twelve months since the violent incident that transformed the daily rhythm of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Atlanta headquarters. What began as a routine Friday afternoon—staffers preparing to leave for the weekend—became a moment of terror that continues to reverberate through the agency’s corridors. As the organization prepares to welcome Dr. Erica Schwartz as its new director following Senate confirmation, and hosts a rare visit from US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., current and former employees share their ongoing struggle with the psychological aftermath of that day.

The Sounds That Changed Everything

Dr. Daniel Jernigan, then leading the CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, was in his fifth-floor office in building 16 when the strange sounds began. The steady pneumatic noise outside his window seemed like construction work, but something felt off. “Why are they doing construction on a Friday afternoon, at nearly closing time?” he wondered aloud.

Across campus, another physician heard the repetitive sounds but attempted to ignore them while completing one final task before meeting family at a nearby restaurant. The moment of realization came when a colleague stood and declared, “I think we should be concerned.” Staffers rushed to a window in building 24 and witnessed something startling: everyone walking around the campus immediately dropped to the ground.

“Everyone who was walking around campus just immediately flung themselves on the ground,” said the doctor, who requested anonymity due to fear of professional repercussions. “So that’s how we knew.”

From a stairwell near a CVS pharmacy across the street, a 30-year-old man—convinced that Covid-19 vaccines were harmful and holding the CDC responsible—unleashed more than 500 rounds of ammunition from five different firearms across the agency’s main campus, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The violence claimed the life of DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose, one of the first responders on scene. The gunman subsequently took his own life.

Unresolved Trauma and Feeling Targeted

One year later, the emotional scars remain fresh. Seven current and former staff members who were present during the shooting or dealt with its consequences describe persistent feelings of vulnerability. Many express that they no longer feel secure coming to work, and some believe they remain targets of political opposition.

“I don’t think we’re any safer than we were a year ago,” said the doctor who continues her work at the agency.

One former employee from the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases found himself trapped outside when the gunfire erupted. He was attempting to reach his vehicle to drive home when the chaos unfolded. Despite extensive experience working in high-threat environments overseas and training for various attacks, he never expected such violence on American soil.

“I’m someone who worked a lot in high-threat situations overseas, trained for shootings and other attacks, and you know, I never imagined it would be happening on our campus in the United States,” he said.

The gunshots were so relentless and deafening that he initially believed multiple shooters were present. He feared for his life. After more than fifteen years at the agency, he ultimately left, unable to shake the trauma that continues to affect him. “This was a terrorist attack against a US federal facility, and that needs to be recognized,” he emphasized.

Political Turmoil and Staffing Changes

The shooting arrived after months of significant upheaval at the CDC. Under the Trump administration, the agency experienced substantial workforce reductions. Office of Personnel Management data indicates the agency lost more than 3,300 positions—approximately one-quarter of its total workforce—over the past fiscal year. Seasoned leaders departed through resignation, retirement, or termination, while top positions traditionally held by nonpartisan civil servants and scientists were filled by political appointees aligned with Kennedy’s perspectives on vaccines and medical freedom.

Kennedy has pursued personal reform of the agency’s vaccine policy, dismissing all seventeen vaccine advisers and installing his own selections, many of whom have questioned vaccine benefits while amplifying potential harms. He directed modifications to a CDC website section addressing vaccines and autism, changing language to state that the assertion vaccines do not cause autism is not an “evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” HHS later adjusted this language to secure US Senate backing for Schwartz’s confirmation.

Perhaps most notably for staff morale, President Trump has never issued a public statement or offered condolences regarding the shooting. More than 180 bullets pierced, cracked, or shattered windows across the campus during the attack. For many employees, the shooting represented not an isolated incident, but rather a physical manifestation of an attack the agency had already been experiencing through political pressure and institutional changes.