Former NFL defensive back Phillip Adams shot and killed five people in South Carolina before committing suicide, according to multiple reports Thursday. Adams was 32.
The Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., citing unnamed sources, reported Adams killed Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, his wife, Barbara, 69, two of their grandchildren — Adah, 9, and Noah, 5 — and James Lewis, 38, on Wednesday in Rock Hill, S.C.
The York County Sheriff’s coroner’s office said Dr. Lesslie and his wife were pronounced dead at the scene, and that Lewis, who had been working at the home, was found shot to death outside.
The Herald reported that police tracked Adams to a home near the shooting site, where law enforcement officials said Adams is believed to have killed himself once police had him surrounded.
Per The Associated Press, Adams had been treated by the doctor prior to the shooting.
A sixth person, reportedly a maintenance person from the Lesslie home, was hospitalized with “serious gunshot wounds,” per The Herald.
Adams starred in football and basketball at Rock Hill High School, then attended South Carolina State. The San Francisco 49ers selected him in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Adams played in 78 career games (11 starts) in the NFL and recorded 128 tackles, five interceptions, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble with the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, then-Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons and 49ers.
Adams last played in 2015 with the Falcons.
–Field Level Media
