Photo Courtesy of NBC News
On Wednesday, former NFL player Phillip Adams was identified as the suspect who fatally shot five people before killing himself in Rock Hill, South Carolina, as reported by the Associated Press.
Kevin Tolson, York County Sheriff, held a news conference to inform the public that investigators have not found the motive for the shooting.
“There’s nothing right now that makes sense to any of us,” Tolson said.
The victims killed in the shooting included Dr. Robert Lesslie and his wife, Barbara, and grandchildren Adah and Noah Lesslie, the York County coroner’s office said.
Two other victims, James Lewis, who was employed by the Leslie home, were found dead, as well as Robert Shook, who was flown to a Charlotte hospital and is currently “fighting hard for his life,” according to his cousin, Heather Smith Thompson.
The sheriff also reported that evidence at the scene was what led authorities to point to Adams as a suspect. When authorities showed up at the Adams’ residence, they located him dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
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Adams played in 78 NFL games over six seasons for six teams. He later joined the 49ers in 2010 and then promptly moved on to play for New England, Seattle, Oakland, and finally the New York Jets before finishing his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.
Adams’ father shared with WCNC-TV that he blames football for his son’s problems that might have caused him to commit the crimes on April 7.
“I can say he’s a good kid — he was a good kid, and I think the football messed him up,” Alonzo Adams told the Charlotte television station.
A neighbor to the Adams family, Allison Hope, said, “This is something I can’t grasp yet. I can’t put it all together, and I’m trying to.”
Scott Casterline, Adams’ football agent, expressed that the player was often isolated.
Casterline, who regularly spoke to Adams’ father, left him a voicemail where he said, “This is so unlike him. He had to not be in his right mind, obviously.”
“He had an injury his rookie year. Some teams wrote him off, and he had that stigma of a guy who was hurt,” Casterline said. “It was hard for him to walk away from the game, especially a guy as dedicated as he was. We encouraged him to explore all of his disability options, and he wouldn’t do it.”
According to AP, Lesslie was an emergency room doctor, board-certified in emergency medicine and occupational medicine. He and his wife had four children and nine grandchildren. Their family was actively involved with their church, Camp Joy, a program that works with children with disabilities, and Lesslie served as a camp physician there for a week every summer.
According to a statement from the Leslie family, although they’re struggling with grief, their “hearts are bent toward forgiveness and peace.”