CDC shooter’s mental health struggles captured on police body camera
Body camera footage shows alleged CDC shooter months before shooting
Body camera footage released by Cobb County police shows the night alleged CDC shooter Patrick Joseph White was involuntarily committed to the hospital. The video, from 2024, shows one of at least three times police responded to the White home in Kennesaw over Patrick making suicide threats. Patrick discussed his beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccine for several minutes, and said that he thought it made him and his dad sick.
KENNESAW, Ga. - Newly released body camera footage from September 2024 shows the night the alleged CDC shooter was taken to the hospital after his father called police, saying he was trying to get ahold of guns and was suicidal.
Alleged CDC shooter reported to police
What we know:
Police reports show the suspected CDC shooter, Patrick Joseph White, had police called on him three different times about being suicidal between September 2024 and July 2025. In at least one of those calls, White's father told dispatchers that White had gotten a gun.
The calls took place on Sept. 7, 2024; April 25; and July 21. Two of the three calls were made by Patrick's father, Kenneth. One call was made by a crisis line worker who spoke with White.
After the first call, Patrick was taken to Kennestone Hospital for treatment, but he refused help the other two times.
Alleged CDC shooter involuntarily committed to hospital
Dig deeper:
In police body camera footage from that first call, Cobb County officers are seen speaking with Patrick and his father inside their Kennesaw home after the 911 call.
Officers arrived on scene just after midnight on Sept. 8, 2024. When officers walked into the White home, Patrick was upstairs but can be seen pulling up his shirt to show officers that he was unarmed.
White tells officers he's in serious pain and explains the back surgery he'd had about a decade prior.
"I'm in a lot of physical pain," Patrick tells officers.
His father told officers in a separate room that Patrick had been dealing with the pain for a while. He said they took him to several doctors who couldn't find anything wrong with him.
Kenneth said he and his wife had just gotten home from a trip to see their other son and returned to find the house a mess. Kenneth kicked Patrick out but said his wife later found him back at home trying to get into a gun safe.
"I've got the keys back. All guns have been accounted for and inventoried," Kenneth said. "We are moving all my firearms to my son's in South Carolina. ASAP. I can't have them here anymore."
EDITOR'S NOTE: The guns used in the shooting belonged to Kenneth, according to the GBI, but FOX 5 doesn't know if those guns were in the home at the time of this incident.
Officers asked Patrick about trying to get a gun. He told them it "was a cry for help."
"It wasn't loaded," Patrick said. "I didn't have any intention to get hurt."
Patrick spoke with officers about his belief that the COVID-19 vaccine caused him and his dad to become ill.
"Basically, me and my dad have been severely ill ever since they took the COVID shots," Patrick said. "They made me take it, and I've never been... You don't feel like you're the same. And I try to tell them, and they call me... some sort of a conspiracy theorist."
Patrick went on for several minutes discussing his thoughts on the vaccine and saying that it’s what killed people, not the actual virus.
Kenneth said Patrick had been saying he was going to kill himself for weeks. "It's like emotional blackmail," he said. Kenneth said he was battling cancer at the time and reached a breaking point that night.
Officers told Kenneth that Patrick should go with medical personnel for the night.
Patrick was involuntarily committed that night. At the end of the video, you can see him getting into an ambulance. EMTs told officers he was going to Kennestone Hospital. A police report submitted following the event said the same thing.
Family members thanked the officers for treating Patrick with kindness and care. One of the responding officers even told Patrick he could talk to him anytime if he needed to.
CDC shooting 11 months after call
The backstory:
The shooting at the CDC began just before 5 p.m. on Aug. 8 outside the CDC.
The CDC's director said four buildings were hit by bullets. GBI officials said White hit the building almost 200 times after firing about 500 rounds.
DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was killed while responding to the shooting.
White died by suicide inside a CVS just across from the CDC campus.
According to the GBI, the guns used in the attack belonged to White’s father. White allegedly broke into a safe at his family’s home to obtain them.
The Source: Information in this article came from video release by Cobb County police following an open records request by FOX 5 News. It also includes past reporting by multiple FOX 5 reporters.