Atlanta shooter charged with murder, aggravated assault

Washington, May 5

The suspect in a mass shooting in Atlanta, the US' Georgia state, has been charged with murder and four counts of aggravated assault.

Deion Patterson, 24, reportedly waived his first court appearance on Thursday. He was taken into custody on Wednesday after opening fire in the waiting room of an Atlanta medical facility earlier in the day, Xinhua news agency reported.

The mass shooting in Midtown Atlanta left one person dead and four others injured, and resulted in an hours-long manhunt on Wednesday.

Patterson was discharged from the US Coast Guard in January and may have mental health issues, according to media reports.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the national public health agency, tweeted on Thursday that the deceased victim was its employee.

"CDC is deeply saddened by the unexpected loss of a colleague killed yesterday (Wednesday) in the Midtown Atlanta shooting," the Atlanta-based federal agency said.

In an open letter released on Thursday, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the "city experienced a collective trauma".

"This is an ongoing investigation, and we will learn more in the coming days about the circumstances of this shooting," Dickens said. "But one thing we already know is that an incident like this is tragically too common in America."