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The suspect in the Sunday shooting at a Michigan church was a Marine who served in Iraq, according to military officials.
Authorities identified the suspect as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, who died on the scene.
The Marine Corps in a statement obtained by NewsNation said Sanford was a sergeant who served between 2004 and 2008 and was deployed during the Iraq War. He was awarded multiple medals including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, officials said.
Four people died in the shooting at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Mich., according to authorities, with some still unaccounted for. Authorities said the gunman crashed his car into the church and lit the building on fire.
President Trump said Sunday the deadly shooting at the Mormon church looked to be a “targeted attack on Christians.”
“I have been briefed on the horrendous shooting that took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Grand Blanc, Michigan. The FBI was immediately on scene, and will be leading the Federal Investigation, and providing full support to State and Local Officials. The suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
The FBI’s Detroit field office also posted on the social platform X Sunday night that the agency was “asking that members of the public share any information that would assist in this investigation.”
The incident follows the shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis in late August.