As an America Walks supporter, you likely know that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, through its Active People Healthy Nation program, underwrites critical programming, including our National Walking College, Community Change Grants, and webinar series. They do so because walkable, accessible places are critical to increasing physical activity and reducing the risk of many chronic diseases.
On August 8, 2025, the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, experienced a tragic gunfire attack. The shooter fired a barrage of bullets at the campus, nearly 200 of which struck several buildings and windows. Officer David Rose of the DeKalb County Police Department, a Marine veteran and father of two young children and another on the way, was killed as he heroically responded to the attack.
Miraculously, no CDC staff were killed or injured. Staff, children in a nearby daycare, and colleagues and friends down the street at Emory University and hospital were under lockdown for hours.
The attacker ended his own life with one of the five firearms he brought to the scene. He claimed to be upset with the CDC due to illness and depression that he falsely believed were the result of the COVID-19 vaccine.
We at America Walks are horrified by this violence.
We have had the privilege of working closely with the CDC’s public health professionals for years. They have dedicated themselves to improving public health and quality of life for all Americans. They are some of the kindest and most civic-spirited people we know. Their work and their priorities are based on a rigorous review of the causes of illness and death. They mobilize not just state and local public health agencies, but also governments, businesses, non-profits, and individuals around proven health interventions.
While America Walks works with the CDC to promote physical activity, that is only one part of the agency’s far-reaching influence. The CDC has been recognized internationally as a premier public health agency.
CDC employees already were under tremendous strain. Their funding and staffing has been decimated since the beginning of this year. Entire divisions have been cut, and layoffs have been felt across the agency. Experts with unique knowledge of public health threats have been fired. Congressionally appropriated funds have been withheld, and public health work across the country is now in limbo. There is no substitute for what the CDC does for us.
Somehow, this horrific attack on dedicated federal employees has barely made the news. The ramifications of decimating a leading public health agency are even further beneath the scrutiny of the media caught up in more stories than they can cover.
America Walks proudly stands with the dedicated public health workers of the CDC, who deserve our support now more than ever.
