A Michigan school district announced that its campuses will be closed on Monday following a deadly shooting and fire that left at least four dead and eight injured after a gunman attacked a church service on Sunday.
The Grand Blanc Community Schools system said all its campuses will be closed on Monday following the attack on a service at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The closure includes all 13 campuses, from preschool to high school.
In addition to the four dead and eight injured at the church, the gunman was killed by police.
Authorities say the 40-year-old suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, drove his vehicle through the front doors of the church in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles northwest of Detroit, before exiting and opening fire with what they described as an assault rifle against hundreds of worshippers inside.
Investigators believe the suspect also deliberately set the church on fire, which appeared engulfed in flames in photos and videos shared on social media.
“All indications in this investigation point to the suspect using some kind of accelerant, we believe gasoline, and setting the church on fire,” said James Deir of the Detroit office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, during a press conference Sunday night. Deir said authorities also found “suspicious” explosive devices.
Authorities reported during a nighttime briefing that two more bodies were recovered from the church, raising the previous count of two deaths. It is unknown if the two most recent victims were shot and killed or died in the fire. There are more unaccounted-for victims in the fire-destroyed church, according to Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye.
Earlier, Renye praised the two officers who responded to the emergency call in less than a minute and “neutralized” the suspect in the church parking lot. “We do not believe there is a threat to the public,” he said. “We believe we have the person responsible for this.”
One of the hospitalized victims was in critical condition and seven in stable condition, he said Sunday afternoon.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a post on X that her “heart is broken” for the Grand Blanc community. “Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,” she added.
President Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he had been briefed on the “horrific” attack and pledged the FBI’s full support. Trump added that it appears to be “another targeted attack against Christians in the United States of America.”
In an early afternoon press conference, Renye provided no information on a motive for the attack but said investigators would search the suspect’s residence and his cell phone records. Sanford lived in a small town about 20 minutes from the church and was a former U.S. Marine.
Spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Doug Andersen, called the attack a “tragic act of violence” in a statement posted on the church’s website.
“Places of worship should be sanctuaries of peace, prayer, and connection,” Andersen added. “We pray for peace and healing for all involved.”
Sunday’s shooting in Michigan was the second mass attack in the U.S. in less than 24 hours. On Saturday night, three people were killed and five injured in Southport, N.C., when police say a gunman attacked a bar from the water.
Source: npr.org by Joe Hernandez , Chris Arnold