4 dead, 8 wounded in Michigan church attack

Two more bodies were pulled from the burned remains of a Michigan church where investigators say a man crashed a vehicle into the building on Sunday morning and then opened fire on worshippers. The discovery brought the total number of victims to four, with eight others injured. The gunman also died after a confrontation with officers.

The fire badly damaged the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, and police said it had not yet been “cleared” as of 8 p.m., leaving open the possibility that other victims might be found. A federal investigator said the fire appeared to have been set with “an accelerant of some sort,” possibly gasoline, and that three “rudimentary” explosive devices had been found at the scene. Officials said the FBI was allocating 100 agents to that area.

Chief William Renye of the Grand Blanc Township Police Department identified the gunman as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of nearby Burton, Michigan, and said the shooter used an assault-style rifle in the attack. The chief said investigators had not identified a motive for the attack, which he said ended roughly 10 minutes after the first call came in.

Renye said congregants were inside attending services before the gunfire rang out and that the building was engulfed in flames. Of the eight people wounded in the attack, one was in critical condition on Sunday evening, Renye said, and seven were in stable condition.

Investigators did not release much information about Sanford. Military records show he was a Marine Corps veteran and deployed to Iraq from 2007-08. A former high school classmate of Sanford said he was an avid hunter and had seemed like a typical “country kid” while growing up.

The shooting happened just before 10:30 a.m., investigators said. Witnesses described hearing a loud boom, like an explosion, and then gunfire. “I thought maybe the steeple had fallen down,” said Kristin Juarez, whose husband helped carry one victim to a truck. Another witness, Paul Kirby, said he went outside and saw a man get out of his truck and open fire with a rifle. A bullet went through the glass door beside him, and a piece of shrapnel hit his leg before he ran inside to find his family and get them away from the scene.

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the FBI was on the scene and would be leading the investigation. He urged everyone to pray for the victims and said that the “epidemic of violence” in the country must end.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., expressed gratitude to police, firefighters, first responders and hospital staff on the scene in a social media post. “We send our strength to those involved who must now try and pick up the pieces and grieve.”

The congregation in Grand Blanc Township was “one of the largest” in the area, with roughly 150 members, according to Justin Jensen, a 19-year-old Latter-day Saints missionary in the area, who said he had been to the church many times.

Each Sunday, Latter-day Saints churches around the world follow a similar program. Members gather to worship for two hours. In the first hour, the congregation meets in a chapel. The attack in Grand Blanc Township occurred during that period of the service.

The service Sunday may have started with a somber tone. The church’s president, Russell Nelson, died Saturday, at 101. The members considered him to be a prophet, and congregations worldwide adjusted their services to honor him, including singing hymns like one titled, “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.”

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