Former NFL player, Rock Hill shooter Phillip Adams’ public visitation set for Thursday
A public visitation is set for Thursday afternoon for Phillip Adams, the former NFL player whom officials said killed himself April 7 after shooting six people outside Rock Hill.
The public viewing is 4-7 p.m. Thursday at Robinson Funeral Home in Rock Hill, according to funeral home officials and an obituary published in The Herald.
The funeral service will be private, according to the obituary and funeral home officials.
In lieu of flowers, the family requested in the obituary that donations be made to: Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390.
Adams brain has been sent to Boston University by York County Coroner Sabrina Gast for study to see if Adams had brain injuries or CTE. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is defined by the Boston University CTE Center as “a degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma.”
Adams, 32, a South Carolina native, was a former NFL player with the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets, and other teams after he played at S.C. State University and Rock Hill High School.
During the 2012 season with the Oakland Raiders, Adams suffered two concussions over a three-game stretch. However, the number of concussions a person has is not the sole or even predominant factor of whether the person will develop CTE, officials told McClatchy after the shootings.
The incident on April 7
Adams, 32, was found dead at his family home on Marshall Road in York County after the six people were killed in a mass shooting at the home of Dr. Robert Lesslie April 7, according to York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson and Gast, the coroner. No motive for the shootings has been determined, Tolson said.
Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, Lesslie’s wife, Barbara, 69, and two of their grandchildren, Adah, 9, and Noah, 5, were killed in the shooting at the Lesslie family home in York County south of Rock Hill.
Two North Carolina heating and air conditioning workers, James Lewis and Robert Shook, also died after being shot outside the Lesslie home, officials said.
There was a public vigil in Rock Hill Sunday for all the victims at Rock Hill’s Fountain Park.
The private memorial services for the Lesslie family was Wednesday.
This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 11:26 AM with the headline "Former NFL player, Rock Hill shooter Phillip Adams’ public visitation set for Thursday."
