At least four people were killed and eight others were injured in an attack, including shooting and arson at a Mormon Church in Grand Blanctown, Michigan on Sunday.
The suspect, identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, a Marine Corps veteran from Burton, Michigan, was killed by police in a church parking lot, authorities said.
Sanford plunged the bank’s GMC pickup truck into the front of the Latter-day Saints’ Church of Jesus Christ. He fired with weapons and started a devastating fire within the church using gasoline.
The FBI, which is leading the investigation, treats shootings as “targeted acts of violence.”
This is what we know about attacks. It’s always an approximate estimate.
The suspect in the church shooting lived nearby. Burton
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10am: Church services begin with hundreds of congregations attended.
10:25am: Investigators later identified a silver GMC pickup truck embracing the silver GMC pickup truck on the wall of a church building, as the Sanford Rams. He leaves the vehicle and fires “several rounds” with the assemblyman with an attack-style rifle, then uses gasoline to fire at the church.
10:26am: The first responder will arrive within 1 minute. Church members flee the building in panic and protect some of their children.
10:33am: Sanford leaves the church after a fire. He is killed in a brief shootout with two officers at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Grand Blanctownship Police Station in the rear parking lot of the church.
12:43pm: Grand Blanc police report a church fire is being contained.
Police said at a press conference on the morning of September 29th that all congregations were being explained. Those treated at Henry Ford Genesis Hospital ranged from 6 to 78 years of age.
“We are considering improvised explosive devices recovered during the investigation,” said James Deir, a special agent responsible for the Detroit Field offices of the Alcohol Department, cigarettes, firearms and explosives. The church was severely damaged by the fire.
The motivation has not been determined. A Burton City Council candidate who campaigned at Sanford’s door told the Detroit Free Press that Sanford had gone to Tillard to the church and told the Mormons were “antichrist.”
The US Marines confirmed that Sanford served in the Marines between 2004 and 2008. He held the rank of Sergeant and worked as an organization’s auto mechanic and vehicle recovery operator, USA Today reported.
Sanford was deployed at Iraq’s freedom, operating for just six months in early 2008. He was awarded the Marine Corps Good Deeds Medal, the SEA Service Deployment Ribbon, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Bureau of Terrorism’s Earth War Medal, and the National Defense Services Medal.
Grand Blanc Township is a town of 8,000 people near Flint, Michigan. According to the Guardian, the Mormon Church, which has around 150 members, is one of the largest members in the area.
The FBI is asking the public to share information that could be useful by calling 1-800-Call-FBI or visiting tips.fbi.gov.
It’s in contrast to Joey Griina
Source USA Today Network Report and Research. Reuters
This is an updated, developing story.
