ROCK HILL, S.C. 鈥� Former NFL player Phillip Adams fatally shot five people, including a prominent doctor, his wife and their two grandchildren before killing himself early Thursday.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson told a news conference that investigators had not yet determined a motive for Wednesday's mass shooting.
鈥淭here's nothing right now that makes sense to any of us," Tolson said.
Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his wife, Barbara, 69, were pronounced dead in their home in Rock Hill along with grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5, the York County coroner鈥檚 office said.
A man who had been working at the Lesslie home, James Lewis, 38, from Gaston, was found shot to death outside. A sixth victim, Robert Shook, 38, of Cherryville, North Carolina, was flown to a Charlotte hospital, where he was in critical condition 鈥渇ighting hard for his life,鈥� said a cousin, Heather Smith Thompson.
At Thursday's news conference, Tolson played audio of two 911 calls, the first from an HVAC company that employed Lewis and Shook. One of the men, the caller said, had called him 鈥渟creaming鈥� and saying that he had been shot, and that his coworker was shot and 鈥渦nresponsive.鈥�
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 been a bad shooting,鈥� a different man said in a second 911 call, saying he was outside cutting his grass and heard 鈥渁bout 20鈥� shots fired at the Lesslie home before seeing someone leave the house.
Tolson said evidence at the scene led authorities to Adams as a suspect. He said they went to Adams' parents' home, evacuated them and then tried to talk Adams out of the house. Eventually, they found him dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
Tolson said both a .45-
A person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press earlier Thursday that Adams had been treated by Lesslie, who lived near his parents' home. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn鈥檛 authorized to speak publicly.
However, Tolson would not confirm that Adams had been the doctor's patient.
Lesslie worked for decades as an emergency room doctor, 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, according to his
He and his wife had four children and nine grandchildren, and were actively involved with their church, as well as with Camp Joy, which works with children with disabilities and where Lesslie served as camp physician for a week each summer. On Thursday, Tolson said the family had asked that any memorials be made to the camp.
Adams, 32, played in 78 NFL games over six seasons for six teams. He joined the 49ers in 2010 as a seventh-round draft pick out of South Carolina State, and though he rarely started, he went on to play for New England, Seattle, Oakland and the New York Jets before finishing his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.
As a rookie, Adams suffered a severe ankle injury and never played for the 49ers again. Later, with the Raiders, he had two concussions over three games in 2012.
Whether he suffered long-lasting concussion-related injuries wasn鈥檛 immediately clear. Adams would not have been eligible for testing as part of a broad settlement between the league and former players over such injuries, because he hadn鈥檛 retired by 2014.
Adams鈥� father told a Charlotte television station he blamed football for his son's problems, which might have led him to commit Wednesday鈥檚 violence.
鈥淚 can say he鈥檚 a good kid 鈥� he was a good kid, and I think the football messed him up,鈥� Alonzo Adams told WCNC-TV.
Deputies were called around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday to the Lesslies鈥� home, and evacuated the
Allison Hope, who lives across from Adams' parents' home, about a mile from the Lesslies, said police allowed her to return home around 9 p.m. Wednesday. Moments later, a vehicle pulled into the Adams' driveway and law enforcement quickly surrounded the property.
She said they spent hours negotiating with Phillip Adams, using a loudspeaker and sending in a robot to scan the house. She said authorities repeatedly asked Adams to come out, and promised to get his disabled mother out safely, before Adams shot himself.
鈥淭his is something I can鈥檛 grasp yet. I can鈥檛 put it all together and I鈥檓 trying to,鈥� Hope said.
Adams often isolated himself, even as a player, his agent, Scott Casterline, told the AP. Casterline said he spoke regularly with Adams' father, who left him a voicemail Wednesday morning.
鈥淭his is so unlike him. He had to not be in his right mind, obviously,鈥� Casterline said, adding that Adams struggled away from the game.
鈥淗e had an injury his rookie year. Some teams wrote him off and he had that stigma of a guy who was hurt," Casterline said. 鈥淚t was hard for him to walk away from the game, especially a guy as dedicated as he was.鈥�
鈥淲e encouraged him to explore all of his disability options and he wouldn鈥檛 do it," Casterline added. 鈥淚 knew he was hurting and missing football but he wouldn鈥檛 take health tips offered to him. He said he would but he wouldn鈥檛."
鈥淚 felt he was lost without football, somewhat depressed.鈥�
Cowboys cornerback Kevin Smith, who trained Adams, said the former NFL player had opened a shop selling smoothies before COVID-19 hit. Both he and Casterline emphasized Adams didn鈥檛 drink or do drugs.
Lesslie founded two urgent care
The physician also penned a number of collections of what he termed 鈥渋nspiring true stories" from his work.
鈥淚 know without a doubt that life is fragile,鈥� Lesslie wrote in one of those books, 鈥淎ngels in the ER.鈥�
鈥淚 am convinced we need to take the time to say the things we deeply feel to the people we deeply care about.鈥�
A statement from the Lesslie family said they were 鈥渋n the midst of the unimaginable鈥� but felt assured by faith that their 鈥渉earts are bent toward forgiveness and peace.鈥�
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Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C. Contributors include AP Pro Football Writers Barry Wilner in New York and Rob Maaddi in Philadelphia; Sports writer Josh Dubow in Alameda, Calif.; Legal affairs writer Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia and Nell Redmond in Rock Hill. Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
Michelle Liu And Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press
