HHS chief calls gun violence "public health crisis" after Atlanta shooting
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Secretary of the Department Of Health And Human Services Xavier Becerra on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said Thursday "gun violence is tearing the American family apart" as he confirmed a CDC employee died in this week's mass shooting in Atlanta.
Driving the news: Becerra said in a statement that officials were "still trying to process this heart-breaking news" of Wednesday's shooting that killed CDC worker Amy St. Pierre and injured four other women, per The Hill.
- "But there is no escaping that gun violence is tearing the American family apart and has become a public health crisis," he added.
By the numbers: There have been 192 mass shootings in 2023 as of early Friday, per the Gun Violence Archive — which defines a mass shooting as a situation in which at least four people are either injured or killed, excluding the shooter.
- One in five U.S. adults have said they've personally been threatened with a gun and one in six have seen someone being shot, according to a survey published last month.
Go deeper: Police arrest Atlanta mass shooting suspect
