The man who shot up a Mormon church in the US state of Michigan, and set a fire that killed four people, was a former Marine who expressed animosity about the Mormon faith just days before the attack.
Thomas Sanford, who was known as Jake, drove a pickup truck with a deer skull and antlers strapped to the front and two large American flags at the back, according to friends and social media posts.
Sanford, 40, smashed that truck into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township on Sunday.
He was killed by police officers who rushed to the scene, 60 miles northwest of Detroit. The building was destroyed.
Kris Johns, who is running for election on the local council, said he met Sanford while introducing himself to voters last week.
He told local media that Sanford was initially pleasant but became “unhinged” when he suddenly began talking about the Mormon church.
It’s not known what ties, if any, Sanford had to the church. But Johns said Sanford indicated that some members wanted him to get rid of his tattoos.
He also talked about “sealing,” the Mormon temple ceremony of joining a man, a woman and their children together for eternity.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking on Fox News, said the FBI was learning that Sanford “hated people of the Mormon faith.”
After high school, Sanford served in the Marines from 2004 to 2008, including seven months in Iraq, focusing on vehicle operations and maintenance, records show. He was discharged at the rank of sergeant.
In 2015, Sanford’s baby son received groundbreaking treatment at a Texas hospital for a condition called hyperinsulinism, or abnormally high levels of insulin.
The boy’s stay at Cook Children’s Health Care System lasted for weeks and was promoted by the hospital in a news release.
Sanford told the hospital that a doctor’s willingness to help his son was a “sign from heaven.”
With AP
