In a shocking mass-shooting incident, former NFL defensive back Phillip Adams allegedly murdered five people before taking his own life on Wednesday night.

Alonzo Adams, the father of the former footballer, acknowledged the crime his son committed inside a home in Rock Hill, South Carolina on Wednesday afternoon. "We pray for the family," he told WCNC on Thursday, noting that one of the victims, Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, had been his physician years ago.

"I know they were good folks," Adams said about the family who lived in the same street as his.

Phillip also fatally shot the doctor's wife, Barbara, 69, and their two grandchildren Adah Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5. James Lewis, a 38-year-old man who had been working at the home at the time, was also found shot to death outside. A sixth victim, Robert Shook, 38, is fighting for his life in a Charlotte hospital.

The York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said in a news conference on Thursday that investigators had not yet determined a motive behind the crime. "There's nothing right now that makes sense to any of us," Tolson said.

However, Alonzo Adams hinted that his son may have had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (brain degeneration likely caused by repeated head traumas) from his years in the NFL. "I can say he's a good kid -- he was a good kid, and I think the football messed him up. He didn't talk much and he didn't bother nobody," Alonzo said.

Phillip started his football career by playing in college for the South Carolina State Bulldogs, before being selected in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.

He joined the 49ers in 2010 as a seventh-round draft pick out of South Carolina State, but as a rookie late in the season, he suffered a severe ankle injury that required surgery that included several screws being inserted into the leg. He sustained multiple injuries in the years after that, including two concussions. He played in 78 NFL games over six seasons for six teams. He last played with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015.

Crime scene tape
A representational image of a crime scene. (Pixabay)

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