Officer killed in CDC shooting honored with plaque, road name

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Nearly a year after a DeKalb County police officer died responding to a shooting targeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), he was honored with a plaque and street name.

“I’m still hurting, grieving my son, but I’m honored, very honored that he gave his life for this cause,” Rose’s Mother Deveane Atkinson Burnett said.

On Friday morning, the makeshift memorial standing at the CDC’s entrance was replaced with a permanent sign explaining who David Rose was and what he did. Part of the street was also renamed Officer David Rose Parkway.

“I’m thankful for him and his sacrifice, thankful for his family for sharing him with us, thankful for this community for continuing to show up,” DeKalb County Police Officer Elise Wells said.

The private unveiling drew a quiet show of support outside the gates. Retiree Steve Monroe attended to thank current CDC employees, who he said still carry the weight of that day.

“They had layoffs, they were maligned in the press, all kinds of different physical and emotional trauma that they were under, and to have the shooting was just one more thing,” Monroe said. “There’s an office that I sat in for a whole year that had a bullet hole in it.”

Monroe said the response from passing employees has been meaningful.

“To be honest, we get such positive feedback,” he said. “Standing out here, everybody waves and smiles and says thank you to us, where when I really want to say is thank you to them for coming here and showing up every day.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attended Friday’s ceremony. He hadn’t been at the CDC since last August, when he met with then-Director Susan Monarez about the shooting.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Almost a year later, mother of slain officer humbled by CDC renaming road in his honor

On Aug. 8, 2025, Patrick White shot nearly 200 bullets at the CDC from a CVS Pharmacy across the street. Rose, one of the first officers on the scene, was shot and killed.

White, who believed the COVID-19 vaccine was killing him, then died by suicide, according to police. Nobody else was hurt in the incident.

Deveane Atkinson Burnett, Rose’s mother, told Atlanta News First that she misses her son every day.

“There are days that I’m driving in my car and I’ll start thinking of a memory, and I’ll start crying,” she said.

But despite the pain, she’s humbled by the plans to honor her son’s life.

“If someone said, ‘You’re gonna lose your life,’ and he would say, ‘Am I going to save people from not dying? Yes, I’ll do it. The call is there for someone to show up, and I’ll take it.’ That’s my son,” she said.

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