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https://www.npr.org/2025/09/28/nx-s1-5555970/multiple-people-shot-mormon-church-michigan-shooter-down
At least four people were killed and eight were injured after a gunman attacked a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints service in Michigan on Sunday morning, police said. The shooter was killed by police.
Authorities say the 40-year-old suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, rammed his vehicle through the front doors of the church in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles northwest of Detroit, before exiting and opening fire with what they described as an assault rifle on the hundreds of worshippers inside.
Investigators believe the suspect also deliberately set fire to the church, which appeared engulfed in flames in photos and videos shared on social media.
"All indications on this investigation are the suspect used an accelerant of some sort, we believe gasoline, and lit the church on fire," James Deir of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Detroit office said during a Sunday evening press conference. Deir said authorities also found "suspected" explosive devices.
Authorities said during an evening briefing that two additional bodies were recovered at the church, adding to an earlier death toll of two. It is not known if the two latest victims were shot and killed or died in the fire. There are more victims unaccounted for in the burned-out church, according to Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye.
Earlier, Renye praised the two officers who quickly responded to the emergency call in less than a minute and "neutralized" the suspect in the church's parking lot. "We do not believe that there's a threat to the public," he said. "We believe that we have the guy who did this."
One of the hospitalized victims was in critical condition and seven are in stable condition, he said on Sunday afternoon.
At least four people were killed and eight were injured after a gunman attacked a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints service in Michigan on Sunday morning, police said. The shooter was killed by police.
Authorities say the 40-year-old suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, rammed his vehicle through the front doors of the church in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles northwest of Detroit, before exiting and opening fire with what they described as an assault rifle on the hundreds of worshippers inside.
Investigators believe the suspect also deliberately set fire to the church, which appeared engulfed in flames in photos and videos shared on social media.
"All indications on this investigation are the suspect used an accelerant of some sort, we believe gasoline, and lit the church on fire," James Deir of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Detroit office said during a Sunday evening press conference. Deir said authorities also found "suspected" explosive devices.
Authorities said during an evening briefing that two additional bodies were recovered at the church, adding to an earlier death toll of two. It is not known if the two latest victims were shot and killed or died in the fire. There are more victims unaccounted for in the burned-out church, according to Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye.
Earlier, Renye praised the two officers who quickly responded to the emergency call in less than a minute and "neutralized" the suspect in the church's parking lot. "We do not believe that there's a threat to the public," he said. "We believe that we have the guy who did this."
One of the hospitalized victims was in critical condition and seven are in stable condition, he said on Sunday afternoon.
