Authorities search for more potential victims of Michigan church attack: Live updates Christopher Cann and Kristen Jordan Shamus, USA TODAY NETWORK September 29, 2025 at 6:16 AM 0 Law enforcement on Monday were searching for more victims and piecing together what led an exMarine to launch a deadly a...
- - Authorities search for more potential victims of Michigan church attack: Live updates
Christopher Cann and Kristen Jordan Shamus, USA TODAY NETWORK September 29, 2025 at 6:16 AM
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Law enforcement on Monday were searching for more victims and piecing together what led an ex-Marine to launch a deadly attack on a church in central Michigan, killing at least four people and wounding eight others in what authorities are investigating as an "act of targeted violence."
Authorities say Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, rammed his truck bearing two American flags into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, a suburb of Flint. The attacker then got out of his truck, opened fire on hundreds of worshippers and set the building ablaze with an accelerant, authorities said.
Ten people suffered gunshot wounds, including two who were pronounced dead. One person injured in the attack was in critical condition and seven were stable as of Sunday night, authorities said. Sanford was killed while exchanging gunfire with responding officers in the church's parking lot.
Two people were later found dead in the charred wreckage of the chapel, authorities announced Sunday night. Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said first responders were still working to find more victims, adding that some people remained "unaccounted for."
"We're working tirelessly to find additional bodies," he said. "The entire church has not been cleared because it's a total loss due to the fire."
The shooting was the latest at a place of worship this year and comes after several high profile, "targeted" attacks. Last month, a gunman opened fire at a Catholic church in Minnesota where hundreds of young students were attending Mass, killing two children and wounding at least 17 people. In the wake of Sunday's attack in Michigan, President Donald Trump called for an end to what he described as an "epidemic of violence in our country."
'I know everyone who was there'
An FBI Evidence Response Team agent inspects the suspect's truck outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on Sept. 28, 2025. Four people were killed and several others injured September 28 after a shooter targeted a Mormon church in Michigan, authorities said.
Central Michigan residents expressed disbelief in the wake of the deadly attack.
"I am very shaken up," said Stephanie Giddings, whose daughter had recently been baptized at the chapel. "They're family."
Phillip Cotter, a Clio resident, was a member of the Grand Blanc church but didn't attend morning services on Sunday. "I know everyone who was there," he said, choking up with emotion as tears welled in his eyes.
Emergency personnel work at the scene of a shooting which took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to police, in Grand Blanc Township on Sept. 28, 2025.What do we know about Thomas Jacob Sanford, Michigan church shooting suspect
Sanford, of Burto, Michigan, about eight miles north of Grand Blanc, appears to have been an veteran of the U.S. Marines, according to his mothers' social media posts and archived news reports.
Sanford did stints in Japan and Iraq after graduating from Goodrich High School in 2003, according to a 2007 news article from the Clarkston News.
He appeared to be an avid hunter and fisherman, according to photos posted on Facebook pages of his loved ones, including his girlfriend and mother. Photos show him in camouflage hunting gear with deer he had harvested, and fish he'd caught while ice fishing.
Sanford's son Brantlee was born about a decade ago with a rare condition called hyperinulinism, where high levels of insulin increase the risk of dangerous seizures.
Sanford is registered to vote in Burton, Michigan, but available records do not show when he last voted. In Michigan, voters do not register by party. Although Sanford's political views are unclear, Sanford is seen wearing a camouflage Trump 2020 campaign shirt in a 2019 photo from a Facebook page dedicated to his son's medical journey.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan church attack update: Search for more victims underway
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