The alleged shooter in a mass shooting that killed five people in South Carolina – including a doctor and two of his grandchildren – was former NFL player Phillip Adams, a source close to the investigation told the Associated Press Thursday.
Adams, 32, then committed suicide with a .45-caliber weapon early Thursday, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak in public.
Adams, a former defensive defender, last played for the Atlanta Falcons in 2015. He also spent seasons with San Francisco, Oakland and the New York Jets, as well as brief stints in New England and Seattle, according to a professional soccer reference website.
During his NFL career, he suffered multiple injuries, including concussion and a broken left ankle, the Associated Press reported.
Adams, a resident of Rock Hill, attended South Carolina State University and was drafted by San Francisco in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played 78 games in his six-year career.
His parents live near Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and had been treated by the doctor.
Hours before taking his own life, investigators say Adams shot six people, including Lesslie and Lesslie’s wife, Barbara, 69, and two of their grandchildren, 9-year-old Adah Lesslie and 5-year-old Noah Lesslie.
A fifth victim, James Lewis, 38, who was working from home at the time, was also fatally shot. A sixth person, who was not immediately identified, was hospitalized with a serious gunshot wound, authorities said.
The sixth victim was also a maintenance worker at Lesslie’s home, sources close to the case told The Herald.