Mormon

Sept. 29 (UPI) — Authorities are no longer looking for victims in the shooting at a Michigan church that left four dead and eight injured.

The dead gunman, Thomas Jacob Sanford, a 40-year-old Marine who served in the Iraq War, described Mormons as “the antichrist” to a Burton City Council candidate about one week before the shooting.

During a news conference Monday, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief Bill Renye said authorities have accounted for anyone who attended services Sunday morning at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints about 50 miles north of Ann Arbor.

Sanford, 40, of Burton, Mich., drove a vehicle into the building at about 10:25 a.m. EDT Sunday and opened fire with an assault-type weapon, local police said. Sanford was shot dead in the church’s back parking lot by two police officers.

“We still are in the process of clearing out that church, but at this time, everyone is accounted for,” Renye told reporters.

The injured, who ranged from 6 to 78 years old, were taken to Henry Ford Genesys, and two of them are still in critical condition, according to Dr. Michael Danic, chief of staff at the hospital in Grand Blanc.

Five were treated for wounds, including the person who died, and three others were treated for smoke inhalation, with one still intubated, Danic said. A 6-year-old child was stabilized and released, Danic said.

Police said 10 were injured and two later died.

Danic said several of the hospital’s resident physicians were at the church during the service, describing them as “heroes.”

“Not only were they victims, they are also first responders,” Danic said. “And having your friends and family come in injured and take care of them is a really incredible experience.”

The FBI, which is the lead agency in the investigation, has interviewed more than 100 victims and witnesses, Reuben Coleman, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, said.

“The FBI is investigating this as an act of targeted violence, and we are continuing to work to determine a motive,” Coleman said at the news conference.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives dispatced a “world-renowned” specialized rapid response team to investigate, ATF acting special agent in charge James Deir said at the news conference. Team members arrived Sunday night.

“They have been used all over the world, and they come from places as far as California, Hawaii, and they’re here in Michigan now,” Deir said.

Improvised explosive devices were found but investigators are still trying to determine a motive.

“Our special agents, victim specialists, child advocates, forensic interviewers and local partners have interviewed over 100 victims and witnesses to date, and are continuing to interview individuals as we speak,” Coleman said.

The suspect is believed to have ignited the church with gasoline.

“This is not Grand Blanc. This does not define Grand Blanc and who we are,” Renye said during a news conference. “We are a community, and I am confident that together we’re going to build a stronger community due to this incident.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also spoke at the news conference.

“We’ve seen gun violence in our schools, stores, parades, festivals and our houses of worship,” she said. “These are places that we go to feel connected, to feel safe, to be together.

“But today, this place has been shattered by bullets and broken glass. And this might be a familiar pain, but it hurts all the same every time.”

The church was destroyed and a “lifetime of memories is just gone,” Brandt Malone, who has been going to the church for several years, told CNN.

“The hardest thing for our community right now is feeling like that security blanket has been ripped away,” Malone said.

Sanford rammed his pickup truck into the church before shooting congregants with an assault rifle. The building was set on fire, with flames reaching up to 70 feet.

Sanford was a sergeant during Operation Iraqi Freedom, starting in the summer of 2007. He received several medals for his service, a Marine Corps spokesperson told CNN.

He was married and had at least one child. A GoldFundMe page in 2015 said the family needed donations to help pay for a son, who was born with a rare genetic disorder.

Kris Johns, a Burton city council candidate, told the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News that he spoke with Sanford on the campaign trail a few days before the shooting.

Johns recalled Sanford had a tirade against the church and described Mormons, which is the informal name given for members as the Church of Jesus Christ, as “the antichrist.”

“It was very much standard anti-LDS talking points that you would find on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook,” Johns told the Detroit News.

The council candidate recalled to the Free Press “there was no mention of anything right or left, blue or red. He said he saw Trump 2024 sign on the suspect’s fence.

NBC News confirmed an image loaded to Facebook in 2019 showed him wearing a “TRUMP 2020” shirt.

Johns said the man noted struggles with drug addiction.

A survivor at the shooting said there was no security at the church.

“We heard a big bang and the doors flew open,” Paula, who didn’t give her last name, told WXYZ TV. “And then everybody rushed out. We went through the church and through the parking lot … when we got in the cars and flipped around, that’s when the shooter started shooting at the car.”

At least four people have been killed and several others injured after a gunman drove a vehicle into a Michigan church, opened fire and set the building ablaze, police say.

Officials said the attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, a town 60 miles (100km) northwest of Detroit, happened during a Sunday service that attracted hundreds of people.

The suspect, identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, from Burton, Michigan, was later shot dead by police in the church car park.

Authorities are investigating the incident as an “act of targeted violence”, but say the motive remains unclear.

Two victims died from gunshot wounds, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye told a news conference on Sunday.

The fire caused extensive damage to the building and some people remained unaccounted for, Chief Renye said.

Earlier, he said “hundreds” of people were attending services at about 10:25 local time (15:25 GMT) when a gunman drove a vehicle into the building.

The attacker then opened fire with an assault-style rifle, “firing several rounds at individuals within the church,” he said.

The police responded immediately to the scene, he said, adding officers “engaged in gunfire with that particular individual, neutralising that suspect”. He was killed at 10:33 local time, eight minutes after the shooting.

“We are still trying to determine exactly when and where the fire ended up coming from and how it got started,” the police chief said. “We believe it was deliberately set, though, by the suspect.”

Investigators are conducting a search of the suspect’s property and examining his cell-phone records as they work to establish a motive.

The FBI is leading the investigation and has deployed crisis response teams, bomb technicians and others to the scene, according to Reuben Coleman, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office.

Michigan State Police spokeswoman Kim Vetter told reporters that officers have been responding to additional bomb threats at multiple other locations.

“We’ve responded and cleared those locations,” she said.

In a statement, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirmed a gunman opened fire during worship services, and “multiple individuals were injured”.

“We pray for peace and healing for all involved,” it said.

Grand Blanc police said that 100 FBI agents have been deployed to assist with the investigation.

President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the shooting, and confirmed the FBI will be leading the federal investigation.

Writing on Truth Social, he described it as “yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America”.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that she had received briefings on “what appears to be a horrific shooting and fire” at the church.

“Such violence at a place of worship is heartbreaking and chilling,” Bondi said. “Please join me in praying for the victims of this terrible tragedy.”

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer condemned the incident, saying: “Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,” adding that she was monitoring the situation.

Mitt Romney, former US senator for Utah and one of the most prominent Mormon politicians, called the shooting a “tragedy”, adding: “My brothers and sisters and their church are targets of violence. Praying for healing and comforting.”

ABC has found its newest “Bachelorette” in “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” reality star Taylor Frankie Paul.

Paul, who appeared in the popular Hulu series, revealed her upcoming foray into Bachelor Nation on Wednesday’s episode of Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “It has not hit me. Right now in this moment, I’m just thinking about it and it’s not real,” she told Cooper.

She added: “It’s not real. It’s not going to be until I have the limos [full of suitors] pulling up.”

The 31-year-old #MomTok influencer-turned-reality TV personality breaks a longtime norm for the “Bachelor” franchise. Incoming leads on “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette” have historically been contestants from previous seasons. Paul, on the other hand, has not.

Don’t mistake her for a reality TV rookie, though.

Paul was announced as the newest “Bachelorette” a year after “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” became a buzzworthy hit. The series follows a group of Utah-based TikTok influencers who became the subject of social media scandal when Paul announced she and her then-husband had participated in “soft swinging” and were going their separate ways. The series’ debut chronicled the fallout and explored how its young, modern stars navigate the traditionalist culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Speaking to Cooper, Paul said she once thought the “Bachelorette” gig was “unattainable” and shared how she thinks she landed the part. She said she had been open on social media about being single and her fans began making the case for her to become the series’ next star. Ultimately, she received the invitation.

She said she initially hesitated to accept, citing her co-parenting commitments. Paul shares a daughter and son with her ex-husband, and another son with an ex-boyfriend. She explained that she tapped her inner circle to help care for the children, voicing her determination to “make it work.”

Paul is the latest “Mormon Wives” star to cross over to ABC programming. “Dancing With the Stars” announced in July that Paul’s fellow #MomTok-ers Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt would take the dance floor for Season 34. Disney owns both “Mormon Wives” streamer Hulu and “Bachelorette” and “DWTS” home network ABC.

“The Bachelorette” won’t return until 2026, but viewers can catch Paul beforehand when “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” Season 3 premieres Nov. 13 on Hulu.