Suspect dead, police officer injured near CDC and Emory University

ATLANTA — A suspected shooter near the campuses of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University is dead and one law enforcement officer is injured after police responded to reports of an active shooter Friday, authorities said.

Police did not specify whether other people were injured. Authorities said there was no longer a threat to the public. Emory University announced in a post on X that the shelter-in-place order on campus had been lifted, but asked people to avoid the area.

Staff at a nearby deli said they heard what sounded like a string of gunshots. CDC employees said bullets struck the windows of several buildings on their campus.

Brandy Giraldo, the chief operating officer of the deli General Muir’s, said “it sounded like fireworks going off, one right after the other,” she said.

She then saw people running past her business. A parking attendant and another person paused to warn them of a shooter nearby.

By around 6 p.m., a warning siren repeatedly sounded near the Emory and CDC campuses, as law enforcement vehicles continued arriving.

Gov. Brian Kemp praised the efforts of first responders.

“Twice this week, deranged criminals have targeted innocent Georgians,” Kemp said, referring to the shooting at Fort Stewart. “Each time, brave first responders rushed toward the danger to subdue the shooter and save lives, reminding us of just how crucial they are.”

Emory’s main campus, Emory University Hospital and the CDC are surrounded by affluent wooded neighborhoods in northeast Atlanta. All three institutions line up along Clifton Road. The area is hard to access, and notoriously traffic-choked, but on Friday few cars were in evidence.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said “we’re horrified by the news out of Emory University and praying for the safety of the entire campus community.”