Friday’s attack on the CDC offices was targeted and deliberate, CDC leaders tell staffers

(CNN) — In a large and hastily arranged Zoom call on Saturday, about 800 rattled staffers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tried to make sense of the trauma they endured just a day earlier when a gunman opened fire on the agency’s buildings from across the street.

They had been winding down for the weekend when more than 40 bullets smashed through their office windows, whizzing just over their cubicle walls and petrifying staffers in at least four buildings.

CNN’s Kathleen Magramo and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.