SC - 5 dead, inc. Dr Robert Lesslie & 2 children in shooting, Rock Hill, Apr 2021

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Police report reveals no clear motive for shooting involving ex-NFL player Phillip Adams

No motive found for shooting involving ex-NFLer

 

[stmarysmead]

Police report reveals no clear motive for shooting involving ex-NFL player Phillip Adams

No motive found for shooting involving ex-NFLer

Well, we know there was a motive.

He had two guns. He chose a specific home. He did not kill family. His rage left his family alive and he took it down the road to another family.

He starting killing people before he even got in the house. Just two men he encountered working at a job. Not a job they ever were going to make millions at....or have fans cheering them on. Not two guys who’d ever PERSONALLY offended him. Adams just took a look at them, and pumped them full of bullets and annihilated them. And we are supposed to believe he had no motive?

He killed children who could never have hurt him. Never could have stopped him. Probably couldn’t even have identified him. Two small children...the only children of two parents now left childless. Every holiday, empty Easter baskets, empty Christmas stockings, no first day at school, no goodnight kisses. Adams looked at them, probably terrified and crying and pumped them full of bullets and annihilated them.

Story has slipped away. Only update...oh, too bad, no motive. Poor guy treated so poorly by NFL. The victims are an afterthought. He had no motive, so they don’t matter. Case closed.

HE HAD A MOTIVE.

Thank you for letting me vent here...where victims DO matter.

 

[scdiv]

I don't think the case is closed. I think the police report on this horrible crime didn't reveal a clear motive. The investigation is still ongoing and I do believe more information will come out.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

And with the shooter dead - might not ever know why.
Prayers for the family as they deal with this horrible tragedy.

Prayers for all families touched by this situation, including the shooter's. I'm sure his family is at a loss as to why, and they must feel awful over what their son chose to do. So very sad!

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Well, we know there was a motive.

He had two guns. He chose a specific home. He did not kill family. His rage left his family alive and he took it down the road to another family.

He starting killing people before he even got in the house. Just two men he encountered working at a job. Not a job they ever were going to make millions at....or have fans cheering them on. Not two guys who’d ever PERSONALLY offended him. Adams just took a look at them, and pumped them full of bullets and annihilated them. And we are supposed to believe he had no motive?

He killed children who could never have hurt him. Never could have stopped him. Probably couldn’t even have identified him. Two small children...the only children of two parents now left childless. Every holiday, empty Easter baskets, empty Christmas stockings, no first day at school, no goodnight kisses. Adams looked at them, probably terrified and crying and pumped them full of bullets and annihilated them.

Story has slipped away. Only update...oh, too bad, no motive. Poor guy treated so poorly by NFL. The victims are an afterthought. He had no motive, so they don’t matter. Case closed.

HE HAD A MOTIVE.

Thank you for letting me vent here...where victims DO matter.

Have LE gone completely through all digital evidence? It seems like that would have taken longer. Maybe a motive might still emerge??

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I don't think he had played for a few years. Due to injuries. I do think they get a sort of pension as well. I see that his father issued a statement saying he thinks Adam's football injuries are a factor. Very sad.

I mean no disrespect. I'm not sure Adams was tearing it up on the gridiron. His separation from the NFL may not have been due to injury. Many players wash out after a mediocre few years. I see him wearing 3 different unis, San Fran (drafted in 7th round iirc), Philly, and New England. A broken ankle ended one season, and 2 concussions are mentioned. Unless I'm missing a bunch of injuries, this may not have had anything to do with CTE or pain pills.

Over 6 years, he averaged playing 13 games per season. The NFL plays 16 regular season games. It seems he missed the majority of his rookie season with his ankle break. The remaining missing games could be explained by the concussions and the NFL's concussion protocol.

It sounds to me that he was paid for completing 6 seasons, and that he has relatively few injuries. Even at league minimum, that's a good pay day. I hope the family permits an autopsy and that the .45 he used left enough to autopsy and screen for CTE.

It's always a roll of the dice for college athletes turning pro, particularly for football players. Do they stay, obtain their degree, and acquire additional time to mature and the means to ensure a stable career after they hang up their cleats? Or, realizing that they are only ever 1 play away from a career ending injury, do they sign on the dotted line, securing an NFL payday at least for a season? That would be a tough call for anyone to make. Just as it is for everyone in life, sometimes things pan out and sometimes they don't. The senseless of this is beyond me.

I am in awe of Dr. Lesslie's family. There are no cries for vengeance, no political rhetoric on gun control, no threats to exact revenge with a civil suit against the shooter's estate. There is a family leaning on their faith for comfort. They offered tributes to their slain parents and children. They gracefully stated their intention to forgive, and called for prayers for every single family but their own. Concerning honoring those lost, they requested for the children that people stock their local food pantries and libraries; for the adults, the family requests that people be good stewards of what they have and that they support local community. Now that's grace in the worst of circumstances. That's love.

 

[Cryptic]

I mean no disrespect. I'm not sure Adams was tearing it up on the gridiron. His separation from the NFL may not have been due to injury. Many players wash out after a mediocre few years.

I think this a frank, but very accurate assessment. Evidently, the average NFL career is 2.5 years.

I once read of a investment company that specialized in assisting major league sports players to make a realistic analysis of their total playing season potential with corresponding earnings, then to make smart investment choices.

Sadly, however, a significant number of short career players seem to disregard financial planning which leads to no "plan b" when then cash spigot is turned off. In the end, major league sports are probably the most ruthless meritocracy on the planet.

Perhaps no plan 'B' and a shut down cash spigot led to rage at people whose relatively affluent lifestyle reminded him of the life he felt entitled to?

 

[stmarysmead]

I think this a frank, but very accurate assessment. Evidently, the average NFL career is 2.5 years.

I once read of a investment company that specialized in assisting major league sports players to make a realistic analysis of their total playing season potential with corresponding earnings, then to make smart investment choices.

Sadly, however, a significant number of short career players seem to disregard financial planning which leads to no "plan b" when then cash spigot is turned off. In the end, major league sports are probably the most ruthless meritocracy on the planet.

Perhaps no plan 'B' and a shut down cash spigot led to rage at people whose relatively affluent lifestyle reminded him of the life he felt entitled to?

But then why kill two working men? He had had advantages in life that they never had....talent, large income, a modicum of fame, and even admiration from complete strangers.

Neither of them had ever been a hometown celebrity. One of them was a single Dad struggling to provide a living and a family life for his children. When times got tough, what did he do...he went back to school. Balanced child-rearing, a full-time job and night school as well...only to be shot over and over because this former pro athlete couldn’t stoop to doing something similar. Instead of stewing and building a rage against certain neighbors, why didn’t he find a job, any job...and then put himself through school? Was he too above that, too proud, too privileged?

Instead he went back to live off his elderly parents, and brag to locals how he was going to underwrite some big charitable outreach like the billionaires do. All vanity and puffery...while the men really worthy of the utmost respect and grief...died in the dirt where he left them.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I think this a frank, but very accurate assessment. Evidently, the average NFL career is 2.5 years.

I once read of a investment company that specialized in assisting major league sports players to make a realistic analysis of their total playing season potential with corresponding earnings, then to make smart investment choices.

Sadly, however, a significant number of short career players seem to disregard financial planning which leads to no "plan b" when then cash spigot is turned off. In the end, major league sports are probably the most ruthless meritocracy on the planet.

Perhaps no plan 'B' and a shut down cash spigot led to rage at people whose relatively affluent lifestyle reminded him of the life he felt entitled to?

That's a much-needed financial service that you described. I've read of similar planning and advice for lottery winners.

It doesn't sound like a rags to riches story either. He started off with 2 dedicated parents who provided nicely for him. They live a few houses away from the Dr. and his wife.

His Mom was a teacher in the same district where the doctor's grandchildren (ages 5 and 9) attended school.

I hope digital evidence turns up something as to motive.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

...HE HAD A MOTIVE...

I read that this doctor stopped prescribing him painkillers. I myself believe that this killer was hooked on painkillers; and the doctor was well aware of it.

For all we know, he may have been doctor shopping. If it is a controlled substance, I think that the doctor can check a database to see if anyone else has prescribed a controlled substance to you and when.

If he declined to write a prescription for Adams because of something like this, this could have angered Adams enough to go on a murdering spree.

As we have seen, the media only reports on what they want to report on. Apparently, this story, and the mass murder of these innocent families don't fit their agendas for whatever reason.

JMO.

 

[GoBuckeyes]

I read that this doctor stopped prescribing him painkillers. I myself believe that this killer was hooked on painkillers; and the doctor was well aware of it.

For all we know, he may have been doctor shopping. If it is a controlled substance, I think that the doctor can check a database to see if anyone else has prescribed a controlled substance to you and when.

If he declined to write a prescription for Adams because of something like this, this could have angered Adams enough to go on a murdering spree.

As we have seen, the media only reports on what they want to report on. Apparently, this story, and the mass murder of these innocent families don't fit their agendas for whatever reason.

JMO.

So true! Let's face it, rioting sells. And the demographics here are all wrong for what the media wants to cover.

 

[Cryptic]

I read that this doctor stopped prescribing him painkillers. I myself believe that this killer was hooked on painkillers; and the doctor was well aware of it.

If he declined to write a prescription for Adams because of something like this, this could have angered Adams enough to go on a murdering spree.

I think this, or a variation of these circumstances is a real possibility.

Another poster raised the possibility that alternate shady "pill mill" clinics where data bases are not checked and signs of addiction ignored might not be as easy to find as they used to be (though sadly, a friend of mine still has access to his pill mill)

The totality could be a volatile mix:

Being addicted and cut off- with no super easy alternative source mixed with a sense of entitlement (I imagine that as a former NFL player in small town SC, the perpetrator was used to deference in many things). Then add rage at the loss of income and even higher status that went with being an active NFL player.

Stir in the fact that the person who cut him off lived close by and enjoyed a high social status as well as a relatively high income- by ordinary people standards, not NFL standards. Even still, enough to remind the perpetrator of what he “deserved” and stoke rage?

 

[Marysmith]

I read that this doctor stopped prescribing him painkillers. I myself believe that this killer was hooked on painkillers; and the doctor was well aware of it.

For all we know, he may have been doctor shopping. If it is a controlled substance, I think that the doctor can check a database to see if anyone else has prescribed a controlled substance to you and when.

If he declined to write a prescription for Adams because of something like this, this could have angered Adams enough to go on a murdering spree.

As we have seen, the media only reports on what they want to report on. Apparently, this story, and the mass murder of these innocent families don't fit their agendas for whatever reason.

JMO.

Yes - I read this as well and the continued prescription was refused.
This is such a tragedy and it makes me sick to see his father talk about what a great guy he was. No, sir, he was not.

 

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Two weeks later there are still more questions than answers about former NFL player Phillip Adams

Two weeks later, there are still more questions than answers about Phillip Adams

 

[stmarysmead]

Two weeks later there are still more questions than answers about former NFL player Phillip Adams

Two weeks later, there are still more questions than answers about Phillip Adams

Insightful article. Thank you. Looks like the “denied drugs” motive has been walked back.
Some new info...at least to me:

ON APRIL 7, 2021, the York County Sheriff's Department received a 911 call at 4:46 p.m. from a 80-year-old man reporting a "bad shooting" at his neighbor's house on Marshall Road. That man said he'd been outside cutting his grass when he heard "about 20" gunshots. He'd just seen someone he suspected was the shooter -- a man dressed in a black hoodie -- run out of the house carrying something under his arm (police would later include burglary among the charges against Adams). “

If we knew what he stole from the house, perhaps it would clarify the motive. In other words, if it was a jewelry box, he came to take something of value. He killed the workman, the children, because he desired no witnesses and wanted to make quick money and get away with it.

If it was the Doctors satchel...that could still apply...because certain medicines have considerable street value...or it could have been that he was interested in acquiring pain killers at any price.

For some reason, that information has not been released. I wonder why?

I also found it interesting that he came and left by the woods...wearing dark clothing. He did not expect to have a workman see him. The fact that he was seen, was obviously on foot, and lived nearby was bad luck for him.

He did not kill himself right away...I doubt the original plan included suicide. He wanted whatever he stole and he wanted to get away with it. If the other workman hadn’t lived for a short time, he could very well have been successful.

I have zero pity for his “hard life.” All my pity goes to the terrific burden he has thrust upon the families of his victims to bear. Parents with dead children. Children with a dead custodial Father.

I do have pity for his family and the ghastly legacy he has left them to bear.

 

[Grammar]

Insightful article. Thank you. Looks like the “denied drugs” motive has been walked back.
Some new info...at least to me:

ON APRIL 7, 2021, the York County Sheriff's Department received a 911 call at 4:46 p.m. from a 80-year-old man reporting a "bad shooting" at his neighbor's house on Marshall Road. That man said he'd been outside cutting his grass when he heard "about 20" gunshots. He'd just seen someone he suspected was the shooter -- a man dressed in a black hoodie -- run out of the house carrying something under his arm (police would later include burglary among the charges against Adams). “

If we knew what he stole from the house, perhaps it would clarify the motive. In other words, if it was a jewelry box, he came to take something of value. He killed the workman, the children, because he desired no witnesses and wanted to make quick money and get away with it.

If it was the Doctors satchel...that could still apply...because certain medicines have considerable street value...or it could have been that he was interested in acquiring pain killers at any price.

For some reason, that information has not been released. I wonder why?

I also found it interesting that he came and left by the woods...wearing dark clothing. He did not expect to have a workman see him. The fact that he was seen, was obviously on foot, and lived nearby was bad luck for him.

He did not kill himself right away...I doubt the original plan included suicide. He wanted whatever he stole and he wanted to get away with it. If the other workman hadn’t lived for a short time, he could very well have been successful.

I have zero pity for his “hard life.” All my pity goes to the terrific burden he has thrust upon the families of his victims to bear. Parents with dead children. Children with a dead custodial Father.

I do have pity for his family and the ghastly legacy he has left them to bear.

Very few doctors make house calls so I don’t see the doctor keeping a bag of drugs at home. Samples are kept locked up in the office and ER doctors wouldn’t likely even receive those. Prescription pads have been known to get stolen now and then but you have to show a photo ID to pick up narcotics.

 

[Marysmith]

Insightful article. Thank you. Looks like the “denied drugs” motive has been walked back.
Some new info...at least to me:

ON APRIL 7, 2021, the York County Sheriff's Department received a 911 call at 4:46 p.m. from a 80-year-old man reporting a "bad shooting" at his neighbor's house on Marshall Road. That man said he'd been outside cutting his grass when he heard "about 20" gunshots. He'd just seen someone he suspected was the shooter -- a man dressed in a black hoodie -- run out of the house carrying something under his arm (police would later include burglary among the charges against Adams). “

If we knew what he stole from the house, perhaps it would clarify the motive. In other words, if it was a jewelry box, he came to take something of value. He killed the workman, the children, because he desired no witnesses and wanted to make quick money and get away with it.

If it was the Doctors satchel...that could still apply...because certain medicines have considerable street value...or it could have been that he was interested in acquiring pain killers at any price.

For some reason, that information has not been released. I wonder why?

I also found it interesting that he came and left by the woods...wearing dark clothing. He did not expect to have a workman see him. The fact that he was seen, was obviously on foot, and lived nearby was bad luck for him.

He did not kill himself right away...I doubt the original plan included suicide. He wanted whatever he stole and he wanted to get away with it. If the other workman hadn’t lived for a short time, he could very well have been successful.

I have zero pity for his “hard life.” All my pity goes to the terrific burden he has thrust upon the families of his victims to bear. Parents with dead children. Children with a dead custodial Father.

I do have pity for his family and the ghastly legacy he has left them to bear.

Wow. To just coldly kill 6 people, 2 young children!!, so callously is just beyond horrific.

 

[Marysmith]

With guns so prevalent in the United States, there may be a last line of defense when a person decides to use a gun for evil purposes. Arizona based company Defendry developed artificial intelligence technology that integrates with existing surveillance systems. The software recognizes a weapon then triggers actions like automatic door locks, cell phone alerts and calls to law enforcement.

Defendry has clients including schools, retail centers, businesses and amusement parks. CEO Pat Sullivan said the cost can be about as much as an security guard, but the impact is priceless.

“What is the emotional cost to the community, for it to happen, you can't put a number it,” said Sullivan.
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/ne...ok-at-how-to-prevent-or-reduce-mass-shootings

Wow - what a world we live in. So sad that we need this!

 

[MajorHoople]

Cops found 'cryptic writing and emblems' in Phillip Adams' home and think he could have been following a new RELIGION before the ex-NFL player killed six during gun rampage

"Former NFL player Phillip Adams may have become involved in a new religion before going on a killing rampage that left six people dead in South Carolina earlier this month.

After searching the ex-athlete's home, detectives said they had learned that Adams 'had been acting differently' and was 'possibly following a new religion or ideology'.

Investigators also discovered numerous notebooks containing 'cryptic writing with different designs and emblems' in Adams' room although they indicated they were not able to determine the meanings of these."

 

[Considering]

New information:


Adams dropped his cellphone and a tin of chewing tobacco at the crime scene. The cellphone’s number was linked to Adams from a public index and a Feb. 28 traffic stop.

Adams was seen by a Rock Hill police officer’s body camera footage fleeing the scene on an ATV that was found at his parents’ home.

Officers found a cache of guns, including a “Tommy gun”-style machine gun and the two weapons believed to have been used in the murders (9mm and .45 caliber handguns).

BBM
“Deputies also received a search warrant for medical records at Dr. Lesslie’s office. Deputies did not find any documents that showed Phillip Adams was a patient, York County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Trent Faris said Friday.”

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/south-carolina/article250898654.html#storylink=cpy