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A prominent South Carolina doctor who was one of five people allegedly gunned down by former NFL player Phillip Adams on Wednesday had stopped giving him medication, which triggered the killings, according to officials.
In an interview with WBTV News, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said he was told by law enforcement officials that Dr. Robert Lesslie had treated Adams, possibly proving a motive for the bloodshed. My understanding, he was treating him, and had, from my understanding, stopped giving him medicine, and that’s what triggered the killings, Norman said, citing law enforcement.
Former Patriots player killed 5, then himself
In this Oct. 17, 2010 file photo, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Phillip Adams (35) sits on the sideline during the first quarter of an NFL football game in San Francisco. A source briefed on a mass killing in South Carolina says the gunman who killed multiple people, including a prominent doctor, was the former NFL pro. The source said that Adams shot himself to death early Thursday, April 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
This March 12, 2009, file photo shows Dr. Robert Lesslie in Rock Hill, S.C. Authorities say a gunman, identified as former NFL player Phillip Adams, killed Lesslie, his wife and grandchildren on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 in Rock Hill. Adams killed himself early Thursday according to a source who was briefed on the investigation. (John D. Simmons/The Charlotte Observer via AP)
Agent, Family Speak out After Former NFL Player Identified as Suspect in Mass Shooting
The agent and relatives of a former professional football player who was named as the only suspect in a mass shooting that killed five this week are speaking out.
Philip Adams, 32, a former NFL player, was identified by law enforcement officials as the man who gunned down a doctor, his wife, their two grandchildren, and a worker on April 7 in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Adams, who lived about a quarter-mile from the home where Dr. Robert Lesslie and his family were found dead, was himself found dead at the house he shared with his father, authorities told reporters in a press conference on Thursday.
NFL veteran Phillip Adams killed 5, then himself
Published on April 09, 2021 with No Comments
York County Sheriff says investigators have not yet established a motive.
Former NFL player Phillip Adams fatally shot five people including a prominent doctor, his wife and their two grandchildren before later killing himself, authorities said Thursday.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson told a news conference that investigators had not yet determined a motive in the mass shooting Wednesday.
“There’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 S.C., Wednesday along with grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5, the York County coroner’s office said.
As we reported at
The Root, on Wednesday, Adams entered Lesslie’s Rock Hill residence and gunned down Robert, his 69-year-old wife, Barbara Lesslie, and his grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5.
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Outside of the Lesslie’s home, James Lewis, 38, was found shot to death, and a sixth person, who has yet to be identified, is currently hospitalized with “serious gunshot wounds,” according to Trent Faris, a spokesperson for the York County Sheriff’s Office.
Shortly after midnight on Thursday, after authorities identified him as a suspect in the mass shooting, Adams took his own life with a .45 caliber weapon.