The search for more potential victims of a massive shooting in a Michigan church continued until Monday, after an armed man killed at least four people, while hundreds worshiped Sunday morning.
The gun Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, led his truck to the Church of Jesus Christ of the last days in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on Sunday morning, before shooting the congregants and set the building on fire, according to the officials.
At least four people died and another eight were injured in the shooting and fire, according to the police. The gunman was killed in a shooting with the police that he replied, police said.
The FBI is leading the investigation, calling the attack an “act of directed violence.”
Firefighters work on September 28, 2025, to set the Church of Jesus Christ of the last days in Grand Blanc, Michigan, after an armed man shot several people, according to the police.
Constance Deming
The authorities confirmed that of those shots, a victim died on the scene, another later died in the hospital and two more people were found dead on the scene due to the fire. Eight others remain hospitalized, seven are in a stable state and one is in critical condition.
The Chief of Police of the municipality of Grand Blanc, William Renye, told journalists on Sunday: “We believe we will find additional victims once we have that assured scene.”
The authorities said the chapel is a “total loss” as researchers work to comb through the debris.
An informed source about the investigation told ABC News that detectives are working urgently to determine the reason behind the shooting.
The researchers are working to know if the Church had been the goal of threats in recent months and seeking to see if the moment could be connected with the death on the Saturday of Russell M. Nelson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Saints of recent days. He was 101 years old.
Renye said during Sunday’s press conference that the FBI had assigned more than 100 agents to help in the investigation.
Renye said the gunman “passed the vehicle through the main door, came out and started shooting,” adding that it is not clear what connection, if any, the suspect had the church.
Sanford was a veteran of the Iraq war, according to officials. ABC News confirmed with the Marines of the United States that Sanford served four years in Los Marines from June 2004 to June 2008. He finally went up to the sergeant range, authorities said, serving a tour of fighting Iraq.
President Donald Trump said he had been informed about shooting and fire, writing Sunday on social networks: “This seems to be another attack aimed at Christians in the United States of America.”
People hug them near the scene of a shooting in a church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on September 28, 2025. A person was killed and several other wounds on Sunday after a shooter attacked a Mormon church in the American state of Michigan, where the building also caught fire, the authorities said. The suspect, a 40 -year -old man from a nearby city, was shot dead by the police after the attack, police said, without specifying any possible reason.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP through Getty Images
“The Trump administration will keep the public published, as we always do. Meanwhile, he says for the victims and their families. This epidemic of violence in our country must end, immediately!” Trump said.
Trump also wrote that the FBI leads research efforts. Trump said while the suspect is dead, “there is still much to learn.”
Vice President JD Vance published his own statement on social networks, calling the shooting and fire to a “horrible” south church. He said that the “Trump Administration” is monitoring the incident.
The governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, said his “heart is breaking for the Grand Blanc community” in a statement about X.
“Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,” he said. “I am grateful to the first to answer that they took measures quickly. We will continue monitoring this situation and holding the Church of Jesus Christ of the last days in Grand Blanc Close.”
ABC News’ Luis Martínez, Chris Looft and Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report.
