While a motive is unclear, details about the suspect have emerged in the aftermath of the deadly shooting.
GRAND BLANC, Mich. — Over 100 federal agents have been deployed to investigate an incident in a Michigan town where a former Marine drove into a Mormon church during a Sunday worship, opened fire on the congregation, and then started a fire.
The police chief reported that officers responded within 30 seconds of receiving the 911 call and ultimately shot the suspect, who had already claimed four lives and wounded eight others.
This tragic event adds to a string of attacks on places of worship across the U.S. in the last two decades, including an August incident at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis that resulted in the deaths of two children during a Mass.
It marked the second major shooting in the U.S. within a span of 24 hours. Just the night before, another ex-Marine fired into a crowd from a boat in Southport, North Carolina, killing three people and injuring five others.
What happened?
During the attack at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township around 10:25 a.m. on Sunday, law enforcement officials stated that a man exited a pickup truck displaying two U.S. flags in the truck bed and began shooting.
The assailant also reportedly set a fire using gasoline. After leaving the church, two officers pursued him and exchanged gunfire, ultimately killing him about eight minutes after the attack began, according to authorities.
Fire and smoke poured from the church for hours, and photos showed charred rubble from the building.
The shooter killed four people and injured eight others, including three who suffered smoke inhalation, authorities said. After a search of the debris for more victims, police said all the missing people were accounted for.
What is known about the attacker?
Officials said the attacker was Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, from a nearby small town.
He served in the Marines from 2004 to 2008, including seven months in Iraq, focusing on vehicle operations and maintenance, and was discharged at the rank of sergeant, according to records released by the Marine Corps.
What’s not known?
A motive for the attack is still not clear.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said officials were investigating how much planning was involved and whether anything pointing toward a motive was left behind.
“From what I understand, based on my conversations with the FBI director, all they know right now is this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith,” she said Monday during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”
Investigators were searching Sanford’s residence but authorities did not say what they found or provide any additional details about him, including whether he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church.
The church where it happened
The Mormon church described the building as a chapel where Sunday services were being held.
The church said on its website that it has nearly 47,000 members in Michigan — among almost 7 million members in the United States — and that the building is one of several Mormon churches in the area.
Grand Blanc Township is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Detroit and just south of Flint.
The investigation so far
The FBI is leading the investigation and considered it an “act of targeted violence,” according to Ruben Coleman, special agent in charge for the bureau.
Local authorities said the FBI was sending 100 agents to Grand Blanc Township, a community of roughly 40,000 people.
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