Authorities have identified a Marine veteran as the gunman who opened fire at a Michigan church and later set it ablaze, killing at least four people and wounding eight others on Sunday.
Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, from Burton was confirmed as the shooter at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township about an hour from Detroit.
The New York Post reported that an old Facebook post by Sanford’s mother indicated he served in Iraq from 2004 to 2008. A U.S. Marine Corps spokesperson confirmed to CNN that Sanford served as a mechanic and vehicle recovery operator and was deployed for a year during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Hundreds of people were attending Sunday morning service when the gunman burst in through the front door in his pickup truck, got out, and started shooting. Authorities believe he deliberately set the building on fire.
Sanford was killed after a gunfight with two officers. Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said a call about the incident came in at 10:25 a.m., and Sanford was “neutralized” in the church parking lot at 10:33 a.m.
The victims are being treated at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, according to a spokesperson. Renye said the entire church had not yet been cleared as of Sunday night.
In an interview with The New York Times, witness Kristin Juarez said congregants ran outside after hearing a loud boom.
“I thought maybe the steeple had fallen down,” she said.
A member of the congregation ran back inside to tell everyone to flee as gunshots began to ring out.
“I thought, if I have to die, it’s okay,” she recalled. “I feel good about where I am. And then I heard my husband’s voice, and he was calling for me.” The couple saw a wounded man on the floor as they rushed away.
The fire at the building has been extinguished. Special agent James Deir with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Michigan said the suspect used an accelerant, likely gasoline, to set the church on fire. Though suspected explosive devices were found at the scene, Deir declined to say they were used to initiate the blaze.
The FBI Detroit Field Office, led by acting Special Agent in Charge Reuben Coleman, said it was investigating the case as “an act of targeted violence.”
Kim Vetter with the Michigan State Police said any speculations about the suspect’s motive are “exactly what it is — a speculation."
“We won’t come to those types of conclusions for some time,” she said.
A law enforcement source earlier told CNN that an “exhaustive” investigation will include a physical search of Sanford’s residence, and search warrants will be sought to obtain any digital media that could help identify a motive.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said her heart was “broken” for the Grand Blanc community.
“Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,” she said in the statement. “I am grateful to the first responders who took action quickly.”
President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the tragedy.
“The suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn. This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America,” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!”
Other MAGA figureheads were quick to frame the incident as an attack on Christianity and float conspiracy theories about the shooter’s motive.
“Watching the attack on Christians today in Michigan, I will say it is only going to get worse,” far-right activist Laura Loomer wrote on X.
Conservative influencer Benny Johnson claimed Christian churches are being “violently targeted at an exponential rate.”
“Christianity is the most persecuted religion on earth, nothing else even comes close. Christianity is under attack,” he said. “Time to get serious about it.”
