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Adams kills 5, himself

THE gunman who killed five people including a prominent South Carolina doctor was former NFL player Phillip Adams, who killed himself early Thursday, according to a person who was briefed on the investigation.

Adams had been treated by the doctor, who lived near his parents’ home in Rock Hill, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak publicly. He said Adams killed himself after midnight with a .45-caliber weapon.

The York County Sheriff’s Office said they had searched for hours after Wednesday’s mass shooting before finding the suspected gunman, whom they did not identify, in a nearby home.

Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his wife, Barbara, 69, were pronounced dead at the scene along with grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5, the York County coroner’s office said.

A man who had been working at the home, James Lewis, 38, from Gaston, was found shot to death outside, and a sixth person, who was not identified, was hospitalized with “serious gunshot wounds,” York County Sheriff’s Office’s spokesperson Trent Faris said.

Adams, 33, played in 78 NFL games over five seasons for six teams. He joined the 49ers in 2010 as a seventh-round draft pick out of South Carolina State, and though he rarely started, he went on to play for New England, Seattle, Oakland and the New York Jets before finishing his career with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.

As a rookie late in the 2010 season, Adams suffered a severe ankle injury that required surgery that included several screws being inserted into his leg. He never played for the 49ers again, getting released just before the 2011 season began. Later, with the Raiders, he had two concussions over three games in 2012.