ROCK HILL, S.C. — New warrants released Friday reveal what York County deputies found as they investigated the deadly shooting in Rock Hill earlier in April that left four members of a beloved family dead along with two HVAC technicians, and resulted in deputies discovering the suspect turned the gun on himself afterward.
The York County Sheriff's Office released the warrants on April 23, which largely detailed their search of the home where Phillip Adams, the man deputies say carried out the shooting, was living at the time with his parents. Adams, a former NFL football player from Rock Hill, shot and killed six people, including Dr. Robert Lesslie, his wife, Barbara, and their two grandkids, before taking his own life after an hours-long standoff with police earlier this month, officials said.
Additionally, the two technicians from Gastonia working at the Lesslie home fell victim to the gunfire: James Lewis died on the scene, while Robert Shook passed away from his injuries days later.
The warrants revealed York County deputies spoke to a witness who claimed to see Phillip Adams shoot two the HVAC workers outside the home on Marshall Road before going inside, where he's aid to have killed the four other family members. The witness claimed to hear multiple gunshots and see the suspect walk into the woods, according to the documentation.
A Rock Hill Police officer responding to the scene said he saw a person matching Adams' description on an ATV driving away from the scene, according to narratives attached to the warrants. They also revealed Adams left his cell phone at the scene.
Adams was later found dead inside the family's home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
During a search of Adams' home, detectives found multiple notebooks with cryptic writing and emblems written in them. It's unclear if these writings are connected to a motive for the shooting, but deputies say they learned he was possibly following a new religion or ideology and had been acting differently recently. Deputies also found numerous weapons, including guns resembling sub-machine guns and rifle-style firearms, along with about two dozen shell casings.
The sheriff's office executed a search warrant at Riverview Family Medicine, where Dr. Lesslie practiced, on April 13. However, deputies say they found no indication Adams was a patient, and as of now have not figured out a motive for the killings.
Investigators are trying to gain access to a locked safe belonging to Adams. Deputies believe there could be more evidence inside of it.