White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said investigators believe the man accused of fatally shooting four people at a Michigan church “hated people of the Mormon faith.”
Police say former U.S. Marine Thomas Jacob Sanford killed four people and injured eight when he opened fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, on Sunday morning. Sanford slammed his truck, bearing two American flags, into the church before he opened fire, according to authorities.
At one point, he also set the building on fire using an “accelerant” believed to be gasoline, police said. Sanford was killed at the scene.
While authorities have not publicly confirmed his motive, Leavitt shared the updates she had received from investigators with Fox News on Monday morning.
“From what I understand, based on my conversations with the FBI director, all they know right now is that this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith,” Leavitt said.
“They are trying to understand more about this, how premeditated it was, how much planning went into it, whether he left a note. All of those questions are yet to be answered but certainly will be answered by the FBI,” she added.
Leavitt’s comments come after President Donald Trump decried the shooting as a “targeted attack on Christians” on Sunday afternoon.
“This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America,” he wrote on Truth Social. “The Trump Administration will keep the Public posted, as we always do. In the meantime, PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!”
Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has 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,” he 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,” he added. “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.”
Investigators are set to hold a press conference on Monday afternoon. One victim is in critical condition, while the other seven are stable, authorities said on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, a man has driven a red car through a barricade near the shooting scene, CNN reported late Monday morning. He was then placed in a police vehicle. His identity and motive are unclear.
Sanford, 40, served in the Marine Corps from 2004 to 2008. He was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2007. He specialized in repairing and maintaining military vehicles.
His military career was described as “stellar,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
Sanford went on to work as a truck driver, at one point driving a tow truck and another driving a Coca-Cola delivery truck. The 40-year-old has also been pictured on social media wearing a Trump shirt bearing the slogan: “Make Liberals Cry Again.”
