The suspected shooter in Sunday's attack on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, harboured a deep hatred for the Mormon religion, according to local residents. Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, a former US Marine, was shot and killed by police after opening fire inside the church, killing four people. The FBI is investigating the motive, with authorities calling it a 'targeted act of violence'.
Kris Johns, a candidate for Burton city council, told the Detroit Free Press that Sanford had visited his home days before the shooting and launched into a tirade against the Mormon faith, calling its worshippers 'the antichrist'. Childhood friends Peter and Francis Tersigni told the New York Times that Sanford became fixated on the church after a failed relationship with a Mormon woman while living in Utah following his military service. 'He got this whole fascination with Mormons, and they are the antichrist, and they are going to take over the world,' Francis Tersigni said.
Sanford is believed to have rammed his silver pickup truck into the church's front doors before opening fire with a semi-automatic rifle. Two people were shot dead, and two others were found dead in the wreckage after the church was set ablaze with gasoline. The first victim identified was John Bond, 77, a US Navy veteran who served in Vietnam, leaving six children and ten grandchildren.
Sanford's father, Thomas Sanford, apologised to the victims' families, telling the Detroit Free Press: 'I feel terrible about all the families that have been hurt... I apologise for that.' The attack is the latest in a series of mass shootings in Michigan, with 12 such incidents recorded this year by the Gun Violence Archive. Governor Gretchen Whitmer said: 'As a state, we know the pain of this too well.'
The Michigan shooting was one of six mass shootings over the weekend. In a separate incident in Southport, North Carolina, a gunman opened fire from a boat at the American Fish Company restaurant, killing three and injuring eight. The suspect, Nigel Edge, 40, also a former Marine who served in Iraq, has been charged with murder. Edge, who changed his name from Sean DeBevoise, wrote a book about his war experiences and his mother said his injuries led to 'delusions and PTSD'.
