Autopsy of former NFL player accused of killing 6 showed ‘unusually severe’ CTE

An autopsy released Tuesday revealed that the former NFL player accused of fatally shooting six people then himself in South Carolina in April suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

According to the Associated Press, the autopsy showed that Phillip Adams had “unusually severe” brain disease in his frontal lobes.

Authorities say that on April 7, Adams showed up at the Rock Hill home of Dr. Robert Lesslie, killing him, Lesslie’s wife Barbara, their grandchildren Adah and Noah, and two HVAC technicians James Lewis and Robert Shook.

The news outlet reported that the two men were working outside the home at the time of the killing.

After the shootings, officers tracked him to his parent’s home, where they found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The AP reported that after his death, Adams’ family agreed to have his brain tested for the disease.

The doctor who examined the former football player’s brain, Dr. Ann McKee, told the AP that playing 20 years of the sport “definitely … gave rise” to being diagnosed with Stage 2 CTE.

CTE has four stages, with the fourth stage being the most severe and usually associated with dementia.