The alleged gunman 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 Associated Press on Thursday said.
Adams, 32, then killed himself early Thursday with a .45-caliber weapon, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak in public.
Adams, a former defensive back, last played for the Atlanta Falcons in 2015. He has also spent seasons with the San Francisco, Oakland and New York Jets, as well as a brief stint in New England and Seattle, according to a professional football reference website.
During his NFL career, he sustained multiple injuries, including concussion and a broken left ankle, the Associated Press reported.
Adams, a Rock Hill native, visited South Carolina State University and was drafted by San Francisco in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL draft. He has played 78 games in his six-year career.
His parents live near the Rock Hill home of Dr. Robert Lesslie (70) and was treated by the doctor.
Hours before he took his own life, investigators say Adams shot dead six people, and five people were killed, including Lesslie and Lesslie’s wife, Barbara, 69, and two of their grandchildren, 9-year-old Adah Lesslie and the 5-year-old Noah Lesslie.
A fifth victim, James Lewis, 38, who was working at home at the time, was also fatally shot. A sixth person, who was not immediately identified, was admitted to hospital 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.