A Sunday worship service turned into a scene of horror when a gunman rammed his vehicle into a Mormon church in Michigan before opening fire on congregants and setting the building on fire, killing four people and injuring at least eight others.
Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, was identified as the suspect, police said during a press conference on Sunday evening.
The attack unfolded around 10:25 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, about 50 miles north of Detroit, according to police. Hundreds of people, including children, were inside at the time of the shooting.
After the suspect smashed his pickup truck with two American flags affixed to the bed through the front doors of the church, Sanford emerged with an assault rifle and began firing on worshippers, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said.
His reign of terror continued as he intentionally set a fire that turned into a massive blaze, police said. It was brought under control just before 1 p.m. As the suspect fled the church, he exchanged gunfire with two officers and was killed.
The police chief said they believe they will find more victims when it’s safe to search the building.
“We do believe that there were people up there that were near that fire and they were unable to get out of the church,” Renye said. “So, we do believe we will find additional victims once we’re able to search that, once there are no signs of a fire reigniting.”
The gunman was deployed to Fallujah in 2007
Thomas Sanford enlisted in the Marines in 2004, upon graduating from Goodrich High School. After serving in Okinawa, Sanford was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2007.
At the time, his father told local outlet Clarkston News of his pride in his son. “He’s a homegrown kid who misses his family when he’s gone. Jake’s going voluntarily and plans on returning to this community when his service is over. We are very proud of him.”
The same article mentioned that his grandfather was a World War II veteran and that his uncle also served in the Marines.
He left the Marines in 2008 with the rank of sergeant. During his time in the military, he was awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal. He last served in the 2nd Maintenance Battalion in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Sanford specialized in repairing and maintaining military vehicles. His military career was described as “stellar,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
Sanford went to work as a truck driver, at one point driving a tow truck and another driving a Coca-Cola delivery truck.
His son was born with a rare medical condition named hyperinsulinism
Sanford’s son, Brantlee, was born with a rare medical condition where the pancreas produces too much insulin, known as hyperinsulinism. The condition leads to brain complications.
He told a medical news outlet, Check Up Newsroom, in 2016: “We found out Brantlee was having problems shortly after his birth. It was a nightmare for us. We were slowly realizing that Brantlee wasn’t a typical premature baby.”
“My sister had sent me a newsletter from a children’s hospital in Texas called Cook Children’s. I emailed the writer of this article on congenital hyperinsulinism while waiting for a miracle to happen,” he added.
From there, the family set up a GoFundMe page and were able to travel to the Lone Star state so that Brantlee could begin his treatment.
He has been pictured wearing a Donald Trump ‘Make Liberals Cry Again’ t-shirt
A photo of Sanford that has gon viral in the wake of the shooting shows him wearing a Donald Trump t-shirt bearing the slogan, “Make Liberals Cry Again.” A 2020 Washington Post opinion piece said that phrase had now been adopted as the “battle hymn” of Republicans under Trump’s leadership.
Public records indicate that Sanford was not registered with either of the major political parties. The Daily Beast reports that a Trump sign could be seen outside of his home as federal law enforcement conducted searches in the wake of the shooting.
Democratic activist Mark Grebner told local outlet Bridge Michigan that Sanford signed two political petitions, one to repeal Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s COVID mandates and one to outlaw abortion in the state.
In an initial post on his Truth Social social network, the president wrote, “This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!”
Photos on social media show him to have been an active outdoorsman who often went hunting. A high school friend of Sanford’s, Ryan Lopez, told The New York Times that he just saw the gunman in a gym a few weeks previously.
“He was happy to see me, he just seemed normal.” Lopez described Sanford as a regular “country kid.”
Another neighbor told the newspaper that Sanford would regularly plow driveways in the community for free. “Something must have happened, snapped somehow,” the neighbor said.
Sanford’s connection to the church remains unknown
Sanford is from Burton, Michigan, Renye said. His name was released by the police on Sunday evening.
The truck he drove into the church was covered with American flags, one witness told the Detroit Free Press.
Renye said he used an assault rifle in the attack, and that police believe there is only one person involved.
“We believe we have the guy who did this,” Renye said.
Authorities executed a search warrant at his home and are reviewing his phone records as they work to determine a motive.
The FBI has assigned 100 agents to the case to help interview witnesses.
“As you can imagine, there’s a lot of witnesses that were within the church and that is a lot of witness information statements that we have to obtain,” Renye said.
It’s unclear at this point what connection, if any, the shooter had to the church.
Sanford does not have a criminal record, according to online court records, reported The Detroit Free Press.
Investigators say that an “accelerant”, possibly gasoline, was used to set fire to the church and that suspected explosive devices were also found at the scene.
Who are the victims?
Four people are dead and at least eight others were injured, though authorities said that the death toll could rise as investigators complete their search of the building. Their names have not been released.
Seven people are in stable condition and one person is in critical condition, Renye said at the press conference.
In an update posted to Facebook Sunday afternoon, Renye said one of the nine being treated at the hospital had died from gunshot wounds.
Renye said at a Sunday night press conference that the bodies of two additional victims had been found inside the church by investigators. The entire church had not been cleared on Sunday night.
The police chief said that two of the four victims had been shot and that “some” people remained unaccounted for, but he was not sure how many.
Phillip Cotter, who was a member of the church, teared up as he spoke to the Detroit Free Press. He did not attend services this morning.
“I know everyone who was there,” he said. “I don’t know what God has planned for us, but I trust him. Evil is alive, it’s active. People are too casual to throw out terms that inflame others, weak minds.”
Some nurses from nearby Henry Ford Hospital, who were currently on strike, abandoned their picket line and rushed to the church to aid victims.
“Human lives matter more than our labor dispute,” Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass said.
‘A tragic act of violence’
In a statement, Mormon church leaders called the incident a “tragic act of violence” and urged members to cooperate with investigators.
“A tragic act of violence occurred today at a chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan. During Sunday worship services a gunman opened fire, and early reports indicate that multiple individuals were injured. We ask for cooperation with local authorities as details become available.
“The Church is in communication with local law enforcement as the investigation continues and as we receive updates on the condition of those affected. We offer thanks to the emergency responders who are assisting victims and families.
“We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of prayers and concern from so many people around the world. In moments of sorrow and uncertainty, we find strength and comfort through our faith in Jesus Christ. Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection. We pray for peace and healing for all involved.”
The shooting occurred less than 24 hours after the death of Russell M. Nelson, the church’s president and prophet, who passed away Saturday at age 101. According to church protocol, Dallin H. Oaks is expected to become the next president of the faith.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced plans to create a task force to protect places of worship in the wake of the shooting.
“The escalation of violent attacks against people and places of faith is heinous and must end,” Abbott wrote on X.
“I have directed the Texas Dept. of Public Safety to form task forces with federal and local law enforcement to better safeguard our places of worship. The fundamental principle that thou shall not kill must be strongly reaffirmed as a core tenet of our society and must be aggressively enforced by law enforcement.”
A deadly pattern
Sunday’s shooting marked at least the 324th mass shooting in the United States this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
It came just hours after another gunman opened fire at a waterfront bar in Southport, North Carolina, killing three and injuring at least eight.
Nigel Edge, 40, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted first-degree murder and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, Southport Police Chief Todd Coring said.
Places of worship have increasingly become targets of mass violence.
On August 27, a shooter in Minneapolis killed two children and wounded 14 others when he fired into a church.
Robert Westman, 23, dressed all in black and armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, fired through the stained-glass windows of a church adjacent to the Annunciation Catholic School as children and teachers gathered for the first Mass of the school year.
The victims were later identified by their families as 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski. The suspect died by a self-inflicted gunshot as law enforcement rushed to the scene.
And on September 19, Blake Richard Hoover was charged with arson after allegedly setting fire to the Chabad of Charlotte County in Punta Gorda, Florida, just days before Rosh Hashanah, in what police described as a “hate crime.”
