Mass Shooting and Arson at Michigan Church Leaves 5 Dead

40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford of Burton drove a pickup truck directly through the front doors of the church where hundreds of congregants had gathered for services. Emergency crews respond to a shooting and fire at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on Sunday. (David Guralnick/AP)

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	40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford of Burton drove a pickup truck directly through the front doors of the church where hundreds of congregants had gathered for services. A firefighter works on the scene at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Mich., Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Lukas Katilius/The Flint Journal via AP)
	Michigan Church Attack Leaves 4 Dead, 8 Injured, Building Destroyed Derick Adams - Crime/Law Tell Us Detroit News GRAND BLANC, MI - A devastating attack on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, left at least four people dead and eight others injured on Sunday morning, September 28, 2025. Up to seven additional people remain unaccounted for as search crews continue to comb through the charred debris of the completely destroyed chapel. The attack occurred around 11 a.m. during the church's weekly Sunday service, which had just finished its first half called the Sacrament. The timing was particularly poignant as it was a "fast Sunday" – a monthly tradition where members forgo two meals and donate money to help the poor. Adding to the grief, the church's president, Russell M. Nelson, had died just one day before the attack. Thomas Jacob Sanford, a 40-year-old former Marine and Iraq War veteran, drove a four-door pickup truck bearing an Iraq War veteran license plate and displaying two American flags into the front entrance of the chapel. According to witnesses, worshippers heard a loud bang as the doors flew open and the truck crashed through. Sanford then exited the vehicle and opened fire on hundreds of congregants with an assault weapon. One churchgoer named Brian described trying to help elderly ladies into his car when the gunman began shooting at their vehicle. "We were trying to gather as many people as we could," he said, his shirt stained with blood and hand wrapped in gauze. "I saw the active shooter come out of the building, and at that point, I just started trying to drive away." Heroic churchgoers immediately sprang into action, shielding children and moving them to safety as gunfire erupted. When nurses on strike at nearby Henry Ford Genesys Hospital heard about the shooting, some abandoned their picket line and rushed to the church to assist first responders. "Human lives matter more than our labor dispute," said Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass. After the shooting began, Sanford deliberately set the church ablaze using an accelerant, believed to be gasoline. The fire spread rapidly through the red brick meeting house, engulfing the entire complex while an unknown number of people remained trapped inside. Massive plumes of thick black smoke billowed into the sky as flames consumed the building. Grand Blanc Township police officers arrived on scene within 30 seconds of the first 911 call. Two officers pursued Sanford and engaged him in gunfire. Just eight minutes after police arrival, the gunman was killed in the parking lot. The entire chapel is now considered a "total loss," with debris piles replacing pews and the once-towering white spire completely destroyed. Evidence technicians processing the scene after the fire was extinguished discovered suspected explosive devices. Some victims died near the fire, unable to escape the burning church. Investigators are still working to determine the exact number of missing persons, with up to seven people potentially unaccounted for. Sanford served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2004 to 2008, rising to the rank of sergeant. He specialized in handling military vehicle equipment as both a technician and vehicle recovery operator. He completed one combat tour to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in August 2007, just three months before leaving the Marines. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and left military service in March 2008. In the days leading up to the attack, Sanford had expressed intense hatred toward the Mormon faith. A city council candidate from nearby Burton encountered him while door-knocking less than a week before the shooting. During that encounter, Sanford went on a tirade calling the religion "the Antichrist." White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that based on FBI Director Kash Patel's briefing, "this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith." The FBI is executing multiple search warrants at Sanford's residences and family homes to determine how premeditated the attack was, how much planning went into it, and whether he left any notes explaining his actions. Sanford's family is cooperating with investigators. He was also a father to a son who had faced serious health challenges since birth. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has called for patience during the investigation and urged people to "lower the temperature of rhetoric," cautioning that speculation at this stage "can be downright dangerous." Schools in the Grand Blanc community closed on Monday following the attack. The attack on the quiet chapel on McCandlish Road, located near a golf course and lake about 60 miles northwest of Detroit, represents the 324th mass shooting in the United States this year. It joins a growing list of houses of worship devastated by gun violence, including the recent shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis where two children were killed, as well as past attacks at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. "Sundays are supposed to be a time of peace and a time of reflection and worship," said Timothy Jones, who belongs to an LDS congregation 15 minutes from Grand Blanc. But in the wake of repeated violence at houses of worship, a shooting "feels inevitable, and all the more tragic because of that." A neighbor near the church, Cindy Walsh, expressed the sentiment many are feeling: "I'm shaken, I'm very shaken. I've seen a change in this world. There's so much hate in this world. I just don't understand it." More than 100 federal officials remain involved in the ongoing investigation as authorities work tirelessly to locate any additional victims and determine the full