FBI confirms death, injury count in Michigan church shooting

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed the number of dead and injured in the shooting at an LDS church in Grand Blanc, Mich., in Sept.

Authorities have confirmed five dead, including the assailant, and nine injured.

According to police, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, drove through the front doors of the meetinghouse right before services began Sunday morning, Sept. 28. He fired an assault rifle at the hundreds of churchgoers inside, and then deliberately set the building on fire. Sanford was later shot and killed by police.

Authorities have determined Sanford’s motive to be targeted violence due to his anti-religious beliefs aimed at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sanford was a former Marine who lived in Burton, Mich., and went to high school in a town neighboring Grand Blanc. Sanford reportedly spoke to local city council candidate Kris Johns about the LDS Church prior to the shooting. It was while Johns was canvassing for his campaign, a week prior to the shooting, that he met Sanford.

According to police, Sanford was enraged as he plowed his pickup truck into the church. Sanford’s story is of a man jilted by a lover, flirting with religion, while dealing with other challenges.

He also spent time in Utah, and was arrested for drunk driving in Summit County.