ATLANTA (AP) — The man who fired more than 180 shots with a long gun at the headquarters of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention broke into a locked safe to get his father's weapons and wanted to send a message against COVID-19 vaccines, authorities said Tuesday.

Underscoring the level of firepower involved, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said more than 500 shell casings were recovered from the scene. Authorities haven’t said how many shots were fired by Patrick Joseph White and how many by police. The GBI said forensic testing was still pending.

Documents found in a search of the home where White had lived with his parents “expressed the shooter’s discontent with the COVID-19 vaccinations,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said.

White, 30, had written about wanting to make

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