On April 7, former NFL player Phillip Adams shot and killed five people in Rock Hill, SC. Among the victims include Dr. Robert Lesslie, his wife Barbara Lesslie, their two grandchildren Adah and Noah, and James Lewis. Adams also shot Robert Shook, though he was alive when authorities arrived. Shook was flown to a Charlotte hospital but unfortunately passed away several days later. Lewis and Shook were at the Lesslie home working on the HVAC system. After the shootings, Adams walked to his parents’ house, in the same neighborhood, and shot himself. Adams had played for the 49ers, Patriots, Seahawks, Raiders, Jets, and Falcons.
According to ProFootballTalk, Adams’ agent and another NFL player stated that Adams was not on any drugs or alcohol at the time of the shooting. However, it is difficult to believe that Adams was not on some sort of substance in order to commit this crime. If he was supposedly a good kid, one would think drugs and/or alcohol had to have been involved.
York County coroner Sabrina Gast said she will be working with Boston University while performing the autopsy at the Medical University of South Carolina. The autopsy will include a procedure to test for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) to look at the former athletes brain trauma.
Adams’ father Alonzo Adams gave a statement to WCNC-TV saying, “I can say he’s a good kid, I think the football messed him up.” Adams’ sister told USA Today that her brother’s mental health was degrading fast and terribly bad in recent years including an escalating temper and personal hygiene effect.
The day after, Winthrop University President George Hynd tweeted his condolences, stating that Dr. Lesslie had been the school’s supervising physician for over 25 years.
The NFL made a statement in regards to the shooting: “our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims of the devastating tragedy.” Although Adams had not played for the NFL in a substantial amount of time, the major football ambassador should have said more, especially considering that medical examiners are looking into the possibility of football related concussions being the cause of Adams committing this crime.
Just two days prior, on April 5, Farhan Towid, 19, killed his family and himself in Allen Texas. The bodies of him and his family were found after he posted an 11-page letter to Instagram, starting with the statement “hey everyone, I killed myself and my family.” Towid killed his brother Tanvir Towhid, his father Towhidul Islam, his mother, Iren Islam, his grandmother Altafun Nessa, and his twin sister Farbin Towhid. The family moved to the United States from Bangladesh about 15 years ago. According to the police report, Farhan and Tanvir made a sucide pact together and decided to take their family with them.
These two incidents are proof that gun rights activists are going to use in fighting for gun control. Not to mention the other mass shootings that have occurred in 2021 so far. (As of March 31, 126 mass shootings in America). This includes the Atlanta spa attacks that occurred on March 16 and the Boulder, Colorado grocery store shooting that occurred on March 22.
Graphic by Katelyn Miller
