A quiet Sunday morning at a Latter-day Saints church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, turned into absolute horror on September 28, 2025. A former U.S. Marine plowed his pickup truck right through the front doors, started shooting at the people inside, and then set the place on fire. By the time it was over, four folks were dead, eight more hurt, and the gunman was taken down by cops.
It all came to blows about 10:25 a.m. outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on McCandlish Road. Eyewitnesses say the shooter, Thomas Jacob Sanford, a 40-year-old from nearby Burton, smashed his Chevy Silverado decked out with American flags straight into the entrance while over 150 people were in the middle of worship.
A tweet from X.
He jumped out with a semi-automatic rifle and just opened fire on the crowd.
“It was pure chaos,”
Said Police Chief William Renye during a press briefing.
“People were diving to protect kids, dragging the wounded to safety real acts of heroism in the midst of panic.”
After the shooting, Sanford doused parts of the building with what cops think was gasoline and lit it up. Police arrived very quickly, less than 30 seconds after the initial 911 calls, and before 10:33 a.m., they had killed him shooting him in the parking lot.
The cost four dead two killed by bullets, two burned up in the flames. Seven were hurt, including a small girl who was struck in the back she remains clinging to life critically.
Even in that nightmare, churchgoers showed incredible guts.
“Parents literally threw their bodies over their children,”
Renye added.
“That kind of quick thinking definitely saved lives.”
Sanford had served in the Marines from 2004 to 2008, including a tour in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He made it to sergeant and picked up medals like the Iraq Campaign Medal and the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.
He was a married guy with a 10-year-old son who has some rare health issue. Neighbors say he seemed like a regular family man who loved hunting and fishing. No prior arrests or anything on his record.
The FBI and ATF are running point on the investigation, calling it “targeted violence.” Bomb squads discovered a bunch of homemade explosives at the church, in his truck, and even back at his house during a search.
Motive? Still a mystery. They’re digging through his online stuff and talking to family.
“Nothing points to him being part of any group right now,”
FBI reps said.
President Trump slammed it as “a vicious attack on Christians.” Governor Whitmer called it “heartbreaking violence” and sent thoughts to the families. The church put out a statement asking for prayers for healing and peace in the community.
In the wake of this, cops in places like Detroit, New York, and L.A. beefed up security around religious sites. This hits hard because attacks on places of worship churches, synagogues, mosques have been way too common lately. It also spotlights the tough road some vets face coming home, dealing with PTSD or feeling cut off.
While investigators hunt for clues, Grand Blanc is reeling and trying to heal. There’s a vigil set for tonight outside what’s left of the church. One member told me,
“This was our sanctuary, a spot for peace. We’re gonna rebuild, and we won’t let this hate win.”
