US EditionU.S. Marine Veteran Identified as Mormon Church Shooter
Thomas Jacob Sanford, a 40-year-old former Marine, killed four people and injured eight during a shooting and arson at a Michigan church before being killed by police, authorities said.
- On Sunday, a mass shooting and fire struck the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township during services after a man drove a pickup through the front doors and opened fire on worshippers.
- Police identified the suspect as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, Michigan, a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq from 2004-2008, while investigators say his motive remains unknown.
- Authorities confirmed two deceased victims and ten hospitalized victims, with seven stable and one critical among survivors at nearby hospitals.
- The FBI said it was leading the federal investigation with over 100 federal agents deployed, while Michigan State Police Bomb Squad and SWAT members secured IEDs found inside the suspect's pickup.
- It was the third mass shooting in less than 24 hours and the 324th mass shooting in 2025, according to the Gun Violence Archive, just days before the church's general conference with 17 million members.
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Mormon shooting suspect bombarded council candidate with 'antichrist' rant days earlier
Burton City Council candidate Kris Johns revealed that the man authorities say attacked the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, over the weekend had recently called Mormons "the antichrist."Johns told the Detroit Free Press that he met Thomas Jacob Sanford while can...
Michigan church shooting suspect was Marine, Iraq War veteran, officials say
(The Hill) -- The suspect in the Sunday shooting at a Michigan church was a Marine who served in Iraq, according to military officials. Authorities identified the suspect as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, who died on the scene. The Marine Corps in a statement obtained by Nexstar's NewsNation said Sanford was a sergeant who served between 2004 and 2008 and was deployed during the Iraq War. He was awarded multiple medals, including the Marine Corps Goo…
Michigan Church Attack Amid Rising Tide of Anti-Christian Sentiment in America
On Sunday, September 28, 2025, a gunman drove a vehicle through the front doors of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, opened fire on worshippers, and set the building ablaze with gasoline.
Associated Press News
What we know about the deadly shooting at a Michigan Mormon church
At least 100 federal investigators are responding to an attack in a Michigan community where a former Marine crashed a pickup into a Mormon church, shot into the building and then set it ablaze during a Sunday service.
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