SALT LAKE CITY (KTVX) – New details are emerging about the suspect who opened fire in a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Grand Blanc, Michigan — including a connection to an area in Utah.

Four worshippers were killed and several others were injured on Sunday 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.

New developments

“This was an evil act of violence,” Grand Blanc Chief of Police Brian J. Lipe said, adding that the suspect has a previous criminal record.

“You prepare in peace to perform in chaos,” said Genesee 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. Whitmer said that the motive for the shooting was still under investigation, cautioning against speculation and asking that the public “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 passed away in the emergency room. One child also came in, was stabilized and then transferred.

The ages of the deceased victims are unclear 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 two presidential election years 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 2012 or 2020 elections. His party affiliation is marked as “unknown” in Michigan’s voter registration database.

Political interaction

Kris Johns, a candidate running for Burton City Council, told Nexstar’s KTVX about an interaction he had with Sanford while canvassing the area about one week before the shooting.

“Initially we had a very positive conversation,” Johns said. “I have a very positive opinion of the Church of Latter-day Saints. This person did not.”

Johns says his conversation with Sanford was initially friendly but quickly became concentrated around Mormonism.

“The last thing he said was that ‘Mormons are the anti-Christ’ and he said that several times,” Johns told KTVX. “He was very angry at the church … but it wasn’t an active anger. For him to do what he did is just a shock.”

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 broadcast general conference, which is scheduled to begin Saturday, Oct. 4, the ward held its Fast and Testimony meeting a week early.

Paul Kirby, a member of the Grand Blanc Ward and a survivor of the attack, said a member of the ward’s leadership had just begun the bearing of testimonies when a truck 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 Nexstar’s WOOD in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“Everything shook,” said Kirby, who added that many members rushed 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 officials have investigated bomb threats at other buildings nearby, some of which are churches. All other buildings were cleared, but 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 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were also on the scene to investigate.

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, Renisha Mall, WOODTV, and the Associated Press contributed to this reporting.