Hundreds of police officers packed an Atlanta megachurch on Friday to mourn DeKalb County police officer David Rose, who was fatally shot two weeks ago while responding to a shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The gunman, reportedly influenced by anti-vaccine disinformation, opened fire with rifles near Emory University before killing himself.
At the service, an honour guard presented a folded US flag to Rose's toddler daughter, who wore a shirt reading 'My Daddy Is a Hero'. Her mother, pregnant with Rose's third child, was unable to attend. The memorial drew officers from as far as New York and Colorado, alongside CDC staff and politicians including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Despite the tragedy, President Donald Trump has not publicly commented on Rose's murder or contacted his family, according to Rose's grandmother. Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a prominent vaccine sceptic, visited the CDC after the shooting but did not meet with frontline staff. Internal CDC communications also omitted the gunman's anti-vaccination motives.
CDC employees expressed frustration at the lack of political outrage compared to other high-profile killings. One staff member, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, described the attack: 'I thought it was bullets, but I didn't realise they were shooting at us.' The gunman fired over 500 rounds, leaving employees crawling for cover and stepping over broken glass for days.
Staffers pointed to comments by Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, who said last year that bureaucrats should be 'traumatically affected' and 'put in trauma'. One employee said the administration's silence severed their loyalty to the agency, leaving them feeling betrayed.
