ATLANTA — One year after a deadly attack at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Emory community is remembering the DeKalb County police officer who lost his life responding to the violence.
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Officer David Rose was shot and killed on Aug. 8, 2025, while responding to a reported gunman at Emory Point, an apartment and retail complex bordering Emory’s Atlanta campus and across Clifton Road from the CDC.
Rose was taken to Emory University Hospital, where medical professionals tried to save his life.
He had joined the DeKalb County Police Academy less than a year before his death, beginning the academy in September 2024 and graduating in March 2025.
Rose also served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including a deployment to Afghanistan.
On Friday, members of the Emory community gathered virtually for a Vigil of Remembrance. On Saturday, the one-year anniversary of the attack, a non-denominational community service is being held at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on the Emory campus.
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Emory Interim President Leah Ward Sears said the university continues to remember Rose as a devoted father, beloved son and officer committed to serving others.
“Our Emory community remembers Officer Rose as a devoted father, the beloved son of an Emory Healthcare employee, and a dedicated officer committed to service,” Sears said in a community message. “We continue to hold his family, friends, and colleagues in our hearts as they live with this loss.”
During last year’s attack, Emory’s Atlanta campus was placed under a shelter-in-place alert. Emory police officers were among the first law enforcement personnel to respond.
Rose’s mother, Deveane Atkinson Burnett, returned to the CDC on Friday, one day before the anniversary, where she paused to look at a new plaque and road named in her son’s honor.
For her, seeing his name memorialized was a reminder that his sacrifice has not been forgotten.
“We care. Our people care that he sacrificed his life and that he did what he did, and it shows… that the CDC remembers what he did,” Burnett said.
The Emory community says it continues to hold Rose’s family, friends and fellow officers in its heart.
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