The gunman who killed five people in South Carolina on Wednesday including two children and a prominent doctor, was former NFL player Phillip Adams, the Associated Press reports.
Adams, whose parents live near the doctor’s home in Rock Hill, was reportedly receiving treatment after suffering multiple injuries in the NFL, including concussions and a broken left ankle. He played as a defensive back for multiple teams including the 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons after starting at South Carolina State.
[READ: President Biden to take executive action on guns.]
The York County Sheriff’s Office tweeted late on Wednesday that deputies responded to a report of a shooting at a home “involving multiple individuals” and that a search was underway for a “young black male wearing a hoodie & camo pants.”
The York County coroner’s office said Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69, were pronounced dead at the scene along with two of their grandchildren, Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5.
A fifth person, 39-year-old James Lewis, who was working at the home, also apparently died from gunshot wounds. A sixth person was hospitalized with “serious gunshot wounds,” police said.
A source told AP that Phillips killed himself after midnight with a .45 caliber weapon. Officers said they had searched for hours before finding the suspect in a nearby home.
