Some employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have returned to the office more than a month after a gunman opened fire on the government agency's metro Atlanta headquarters.

Since the Aug. 8 shooting, most CDC employees have been working from home. Damage from the violence remains visible on four buildings hit by bullets on the campus near Emory University.

CDC workers react to returning to the office

Employees were visibly emotional as they walked into the CDC buildings on Monday morning.  

The employees who spoke to CBS News Atlanta asked not to appear on camera or have their voices recorded for fear of losing their jobs. One worker described their co-workers as "shaken, nervous," with "lots of anxiety."

A worker described returning to work as "surreal." Another said that her colleagues were "confused over the public announcement of when they were returning to work," saying that they were worried it would give a copycat shooter a timeline to strike again, which would be like "shooting fish in a barrel."

One worker had stopped at a drug store to buy a flower and a card, which they placed at the memorial for 33-year-old David Rose, the DeKalb County police officer who was killed in the shooting. 

"Thank you, God bless you and your family," their note read.

Deadly attack on the CDC

The August attack led to a massive law enforcement response near the CDC headquarters on Clifton Road.

The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Patrick Joseph White, killed a police officer and fired more than 180 shots into CDC buildings before killing himself. No one at CDC was injured.

While they have not publicly identified White's motive, authorities say that he had written documents blaming the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal. Officials later confirmed that White had attempted to enter the agency's visitors center two days before the shooting.

Union president critical of return-to-office move

Yolanda Jacobs, the president of the union that represents some CDC employees, criticized the decision to return to the office. She said that many employees felt helpless in their current situation.

"They feel like they are the intended target of a lot of the politics that are happening right now and that everywhere they go, there are people that despise them," Jacobs said.

She said many workers had concerns over the chance of another act of violence.

"I do believe it could happen again," she said. "I don't think it's far-fetched at all."

Concerns over CDC job cuts

Adding to the unease among the workers who spoke to CBS News Atlanta was a general sense of job insecurity due to the cuts to staff and programs here, which hasn't made returning to these offices since the shooting any less stressful.

At least 600 employees have been fired, including about 100 people who worked in violence prevention.

While a federal judge's ruling protected some CDC from the layoffs, the ruling did not stop the full effort to restructure the agency.