{"id":166159,"date":"2025-09-29T10:07:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T10:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-shooter-kills-at-least-four-at-mormon-church-in-michigan-al-jazeera\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T10:07:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T10:07:06","slug":"us-shooter-kills-at-least-four-at-mormon-church-in-michigan-al-jazeera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-shooter-kills-at-least-four-at-mormon-church-in-michigan-al-jazeera\/","title":{"rendered":"US shooter kills at least four at Mormon church in Michigan &#8211; Al Jazeera"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>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.<\/em><br \/><span class=\"contributors-list__by-prefix\">By <\/span>News Agencies<br \/>Share<br \/>Save<br \/>At least four people have been killed and eight others injured in a shooting and fire at a chapel belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan in the United States, according to police.<br \/>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.<br \/>The church issued a statement on Sunday:\u00a0\u201cA tragic act of violence occurred today at a chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan. During Sunday worship services a gunman opened fire \u2026\u00a0We offer thanks to the emergency responders who are assisting victims and families.\u201d<br \/>\u201cWe are deeply grateful for the outpouring of prayers and concern from so many people around the world. In moments of sorrow and uncertainty, we find strength and comfort through our faith in Jesus Christ.\u00a0Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection. We pray for peace and healing for all involved,\u201d the statement added.<br \/>Renye told a media conference on Sunday evening that two additional bodies had been \u201cdiscovered in the church\u201d, and that some people remained unaccounted for as \u201cthe entire church has not been cleared because it\u2019s a total loss due to the fire\u201d.<br \/>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 \u201csuspect used an accelerant of some sort, we believe, gasoline, and lit the church on fire\u201d.<br \/><iframe title=\"US shooter kills at least four at Mormon church in Michigan\" aria-label=\"Locator map\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-fkvMA\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/fkvMA\/1\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width:0;min-width:100% !important;border:none\" height=\"598\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><br \/>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.<br \/>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.<br \/>A four-door pick-up truck with two US flags displayed in the truck bed remained on the scene.<br \/>Social media footage showed the church engulfed in flames, which Renye said had been put out.<br \/>The police chief also said that the shooter\u2019s home would be searched and phone records examined as investigators look for a motive.<br \/>Speaking to the AFP news agency, a woman who lives near the church said: \u201cMy husband heard people screaming; one lady yelling for help.\u201d<br \/>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.<br \/>\u201cI lost friends in there, and some of my little primary children that I teach on Sundays were hurt. It\u2019s very devastating for me,\u201d she said.<br \/>Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer condemned Sunday\u2019s shooting in a statement, adding that her heart was breaking for the Grand Blanc community. \u201cViolence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,\u201d she said.<br \/>US President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the \u201chorrendous\u201d shooting.<br \/>\u201cThe suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn,\u201d he wrote on his Truth Social platform.<br \/>FBI agents are on the ground, helping the police with the investigation, FBI chief Kash Patel wrote on X.<br \/>\u201cViolence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act. Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this terrible tragedy,\u201d he said.<br \/>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.<br \/>The shooting came the day after the death of the 101-year-old Mormon leader Russell Nelson.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Al Jazeera English:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.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?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.By News AgenciesShareSaveAt least four people have been killed and eight others injured in a shooting and fire at a chapel belonging to the Church of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":166160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}