More information has emerged about the individual who carried out a mass shooting at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, on Sunday.
Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, reportedly plowed his pickup truck into the building, then shot at churchgoers with a semiautomatic rifle before setting the building on fire. The church remained engulfed in flames even after the shooting. He was killed by police after they arrived on the scene. The shooting left four people dead and eight wounded. Investigators also found improvised explosive devices.
Sanford was married with a ten-year-old son. He served as a US Marine between 2004 and 2008 and fought in the Iraq War. While law enforcement has not yet found a motive for the shooting, reports suggest he harbored animosity toward Mormons.
A Burton City Council candidate named Kirk Johns recalled conversing with Sanford while he was knocking on doors for his campaign about a week before the incident.. He told Detroit Free Press that he was “extremely friendly” but was against the Mormon religion.
The man was outgoing, polite, and "extremely friendly," Johns said. And his animosity toward the church didn't seem violent, he said — “it was very much standard anti-LDS talking points that you would find on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook.”
But Johns started seeing images on television and social media of law enforcement swarming the home he had just been to last week on East Atherton in Burton and had a bad feeling. Then he saw the man's photo circulating online.
“There’s certain things you don’t forget," Johns said of suspected gunman Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, a U.S. Marine veteran who served in Iraq. "This is not a forgettable guy.”
🚨BREAKING: Church Shooting in Grand Blanc, Michigan. ENDS WITH MULTIPLE VICTIMS AND SET ON FIRE
— Svilen Georgiev (@siscostwo) September 29, 2025
Thomas Jacob Sanford identified as deranged gunman who shot up and burned the church is now arrested. pic.twitter.com/TBa4ej6Z98
Sanford also dealt with drug addiction after he returned from Iraq, according to the candidate. A family friend told a journalist that he had been dealing with PTSD.
The alleged gunman did not have a known political party affiliation, according to voting registration records. However, Johns noted that he had a Trump sign on his fence. Still, there is no indication that politics played a part in his alleged actions.
Fox News reported that Sanford had previously been arrested for burglary and operating while intoxicated.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the FBI believes “this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith.”
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