Gunman Rams Truck Into Grand Blanc, Michigan, Church, Opens Fire and Sets It Ablaze, Killing Four Worshippers and Injuring Eight
On the morning of September 28, 2025, a gunman attacked a chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during Sunday worship services in Grand Blanc Township, Genesee County, Michigan, driving his vehicle into the church, opening fire on the congregation and setting the building ablaze. Four worshippers were killed and eight were injured, and the gunman was shot dead by responding officers.
Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said at a news conference that the first call came in at 10:25 a.m. and that officers were on scene within about 30 seconds. The gunman, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of nearby Burton, drove his vehicle through the front doors of the chapel and opened fire with an assault rifle on the hundreds of worshippers inside. A township police officer and a Michigan Department of Natural Resources officer exchanged gunfire with him in the church parking lot, and he was killed at 10:33 a.m. Police said 10 people with gunshot wounds were taken to hospitals, where two were pronounced dead, and that two more bodies were found inside the burned building that evening.
Reuben Coleman, acting special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit Field Office, said that day that the FBI was leading the investigation and investigating the attack as an act of targeted violence, with crisis response teams including evidence response, SWAT, bomb technicians and victim specialists deployed to the scene. The FBI later said the gunman was a former member of the United States Marine Corps.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered U.S. and Michigan flags at the State Capitol Complex and on all public buildings and grounds across the state lowered to half-staff immediately through October 3, returning to full staff on October 4. She said her heart was breaking for the community, that violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable, and that she was grateful to the first responders who took action quickly. Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II said he was devastated by the shooting that morning at the church.
Church spokesman Doug Andersen said in a statement that day that a gunman had opened fire during Sunday worship services and that early reports indicated multiple individuals were injured, adding that the church was in communication with local law enforcement. The statement said the church was deeply grateful for the outpouring of prayers and concern from people around the world and that places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection, and it prayed for peace and healing for all involved.
The attack came the day after the death of the church's president, Russell M. Nelson.
Related: Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dies at 101
(Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation)
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
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Photo: 图：位于密歇根州 Dearborn 的一座耶稣基督后期圣徒教会聚会所（资料图，非事发教堂）。Rmhermen 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Dearborn, Michigan (file photo, not the chapel attacked). By Rmhermen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
