At least eight others injured in shooting and fire at the church in Grand Blanc Township, as police identify suspect as Thomas Jacob Sanford, who was shot dead by police.
At least four people have been killed and eight others injured in a shooting and fire at a church belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan in the United States, according to police.
The suspect, named as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford from the nearby town of Burton, is also dead after being shot on Sunday by responding police officers, eight minutes after the first emergency call was made, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said.
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Renye told a media conference on Sunday evening that two additional bodies had been “discovered in the church”, and that some people remained unaccounted for as “the entire church has not been cleared because it’s a total loss due to the fire”.
Fire investigator, James Deir, the special agent in charge of the Detroit Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), told the same media conference that investigations so far had indicated that the “suspect used an accelerant of some sort, we believe, gasoline, and lit the church on fire”.
Earlier, Renye said that one of the injured people was in a critical condition, while the other seven are stable. The wounded are being treated at the local Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, according to US media reports.
Hundreds of people were in the building for a Sunday morning service when the alleged gunman, whose motive remains unknown, ran a vehicle into the front door of the church, exited, and opened fire with an assault rifle, Renye added.
A four-door pick-up truck with two US flags displayed in the truck bed remained on the scene.
Social media footage showed the church engulfed in flames, which Renye said had been put out.
The police chief also said that the shooter’s home would be searched and phone records examined as investigators look for a motive.
Speaking to the AFP news agency, a woman who lives near the church said: “My husband heard people screaming; one lady yelling for help.”
Another woman, who gave her name as Paula and who had been inside the church, told the WXYZ television station about her escape from the building.
“I lost friends in there, and some of my little primary children that I teach on Sundays were hurt. It’s very devastating for me,” she said.
‘Unacceptable’
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer condemned Sunday’s shooting in a statement, adding that her heart was breaking for the Grand Blanc community. “Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,” she said.
US President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the “horrendous” shooting.
“The suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
FBI agents are on the ground, helping the police with the investigation, FBI chief Kash Patel wrote on X.
“Violence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act. Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this terrible tragedy,” he said.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are informally known as the Mormons. Grand Blanc, a town of 7,700 people, is located about 100km (60 miles) northwest of Detroit.
The shooting came the day after the death of the 101-year-old Mormon leader Russell Nelson.
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