Voter records and a Utah connection emerge in LDS meetinghouse shooting in Michigan

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — We’re learning more about the suspect who opened fire in a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Grand Blanc, Michigan, Sunday, including a Utah connection.

Four Latter-day Saints are dead, and several others sustained injuries, after a man identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, drove through the front doors of the church, fired an assault rifle at hundreds of people gathered inside, and deliberately started the building on fire.

Sanford was shot and killed while exchanging gunfire with police at the church. Now, we’re learning more about the man believed to have taken the lives of worshippers.

New developments

“This was an evil act of violence,” Grand Blanc Chief of Police, Brian J. Lipe, said adding that all individuals have been accounted for. Chief Lipe said the suspect from the shooting has a previous criminal record.

“You prepare in peace to perform in chaos,” said Genesse County Sheriff Christopher R. Swanson. He added that the department will be offering protection for groups conducting bible studies across the county, regardless of denomination.

“Today this place has been shattered by bullets and broken glass,” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said during a press conference Monday. Governor Whitmer cautioned against speculation and asked that people “lower the temperature of rhetoric.”

Dr. Michael Danic, medical chief of staff at Henry Ford Genesis Hospital also spoke to the condition of the victims of the shooting.

“We had a total of eight patients… from the ages of 6 to 78. Five were gunshot wounds and three were smoke inhalations,” Dr. Danic said. “For the gunshot wounds, one had sustained multiple to the chest and abdomen and is in critical condition. One had one to the abdomen and is in critical condition still, but mostly stable.”

Dr. Danic said that one victim did pass away in the emergency room. One child also came in, was stabilized and then transferred. It is unclear the ages of the deceased victims at this time.

Salt Lake County connection

In 2011, Sanford was receiving unemployment benefits in Salt Lake County, Utah court records show.

Documents indicate that on Nov. 3, 2011, he was ordered to pay back a delinquent overpayment of $650 in unemployment benefits to the Utah Department of Workforce Services.

While case documents from 2012 identify Sanford as being in Salt Lake County, the state lists him as living in Atlas, Michigan.

Voting history and campaign signs

Public records show that Sanford owned a property in Burton, Michigan, just 10 minutes from the LDS church where the incident occurred.

Sanford purchased the home in Burton in 2016 for just under $100,000. Genesee County records show the home was built in 1947 on a lot just over a half-acre large.

A Trump-Pence campaign sign is visible in the home’s front yard in an image captured in June 2025 on Google Street View. However, police have not confirmed any political affiliation.

Sanford’s voter registration has been active in all but one presidential election year since 2008.

Records show he voted on election day in the 2024 and 2016 elections and registered as an absentee in the 2008 election. However, there is no evidence he ever voted in the 2020 election. His party affiliation is marked as “unknown” in Michigan’s voter registration database.

Suspect’s background

According to a local newspaper, Sanford graduated from high school in Atlas, Michigan, a neighboring town to Grand Blanc.

Sanford was a former Marine and is believed to have served in Okinawa, Japan. Local reporting shows he earned honors on the rifle range and achieved the rank of sergeant by 2007. He would have been about 21 years old at the time.

Social media accounts indicate that Sanford was married with at least one child.

It remains unclear what motivated the attack. Agents with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives say the incident is still an active investigation.

His property also borders a Baptist church. While police are investigating bomb threats, some of which are churches, it is unclear if the church next door was threatened.

Gunfire during Fast and Testimony Meeting

The shooting occurred at about 10:30 a.m. during the Grand Blanc Ward’s Sacrament Meeting. According to witnesses of the attack, the ward had recently started their monthly “Fast and Testimony Meeting,” where members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints voluntarily speak to the congregation about their feelings of the gospel. The meeting usually follows a fast of at least two consecutive meals by the members.

Due to the church’s internationally broadcasted general conference, which is scheduled to begin Saturday, Oct. 4, the ward held their fast and testimony meeting a week early.

Paul Kirby, a member of the Grand Blanc Ward, and survivor of the attack says a member of the ward’s leadership had just begun the bearing of testimonies when truck first crashed into the chapel.

“The second counselor of the bishopric, he just ended announcements and then started in on his testimony and that’s when we hear a loud boom in the back wall of the chapel [that] just buckles inwards,” Kirby told WOOD TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kirby says, “everything shook,” leading many members to go toward the crashed truck thinking they weren’t in danger. Soon after, gunfire filled the chapel.

“I felt some shrapnel hit my left leg,” Kirby said. “I was… just expecting a bullet in my back. I was just waiting for it.”

He added that he began running away and even saw bullets strike a door near him. “I’m thinking I’m a goner. I’m going to get hit,” Kirby said.

Law enforcement has investigated bomb threats at other buildings nearby, some of which are churches. All other buildings were cleared, though the Michigan State Police is asking the public to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious.

“We can’t make this political. We can’t let this divide us,” Kirby added. “I’m extremely grateful. Someone was looking out for me”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are also on scene and say that it is still an active investigation.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or by visiting tips.fbi.gov.

Amelia Hodson and the Associated Press contributed to this reporting.