Former National Football Player Phillip Adams killed 5 people, including a prominent doctor and two children aged 9 & 5, on Wednesday and then killed himself early Thursday, according to a source who was briefed on the police investigation.
The anonymous source revealed that Adams’ parents live near the doctor’s home in Rock Hill, South Carolina and that he had been treated by the doctor before. The source also said that Adams killed himself after midnight with a .45-caliber gun.
The County’s Sheriff Office said that they searched for Adams for hours before finding the suspect’s body in a nearby home.
Phillip Adams was 33 and played in 78 NFL games over five seasons for six teams. His playing position was Cornerback. He played college football for South Carolina State, and then joined the NFL as part of the San Francisco 49ers in 2010 as a seventh-round draft pick.
Adams was seldom a part of starting teams, and warmed the bench for many other teams like New England, Seattle, Atlanta, Oakland, and the New York Jets, finishing his career with the Falcons in 2015.
The victims of Phillip Adams were Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69, along with grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5, according to the York County coroner’s office.
A helper of the Lesslie family named James Lewis was shot to death outside the house, and a 6th person is in the hospital with “serious gunshot wounds” Trent Faris, a spokesman for the York County Sherriff Office said.
According to his website, Dr. Lesslie had worked for decades as an emergency room doctor in Rock Hill, board-certified in both emergency medicine and occupational medicine, and serving as emergency department medical director for nearly 15 years at Rock Hill General Hospital.
Dr. Lesslie was a great humanitarian, who opened two urgent care centers in the area. He also wrote a book called “Angels in the ER”, a collection of “inspiring true stories” from his time working in medicine. An excerpt from that book reads, “I know without a doubt that life is fragile. I have come to understand that humility may be the greatest virtue. And I am convinced we need to take the time to say the things we deeply feel to the people we deeply care about.”
Dr. Lesslie was well-liked and tall figure in the Rock Hill community.
“Dr. Lesslie was my doctor growing up,” Faris said. “Dr. Lesslie has been one of those people that everybody knows. He started Riverview Medical Center in Rock Hill and it’s been a staple in Rock Hill for years.”
A biography page says that he and his wife raised four children and that Lesslie received his medical degree at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Rock Hill is a city in northernmost South Carolina about 40 kilometers southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina.
