Thomas Jacob Sanford, a Burton, Michigan man and former military veteran, is identified as the Grand Blanc Mormon church gunman who was fatally shot. More victims are feared.

Pop Pulse September 28, 2025

 

Thomas Jacob Sanford, Burton, Michigan man & ex military veteran id as Grand Blanc Mormon church gunman who shot dead. More victims feared
A former US Marine has been identified as the shooter who murdered at least two people and injured nine others at a Michigan Latter-day Saints church in Grand Blanc late Sunday morning.

According to his mother's Facebook page, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, Michigan, slammed his Chevy Silverado vehicle into the building before firing at worshipers at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, using a semiautomatic weapon.
The gunman of the Grand Blanc Mormon church was a military veteran who had been in Iraq.


According to the shooter’s mother, Sanford served in Iraq from 2004-2008.

Thomas Jacob Sanford, Burton, Michigan man & ex military veteran id as Grand Blanc Mormon church gunman who shot dead.

Law enforcement sources have since confirmed Thomas Sanford as the suspect the nypost reported.

The source of the blaze was not immediately known, with investigators finding several improvised explosive devices on church property which a bomb squad was investigating.

Cops said there were hundreds of worshippers inside when the attack began, with authorities now fearing an unknown number of victims would be found inside once the building is safe to enter after a massive blaze enveloping the church.

Michigan LDS church shooter was a ‘family man’ 

Thomas Jacob Sanford, Burton, Michigan man & ex military veteran id as Grand Blanc Mormon church gunman who shot dead.

 

Social media accounts believed to be connected to Sanford show the alleged shooter to be a family man, with a wife and young son.

A dormant GoFundMe page from 2015 raised more than $3,000 for the couple’s now-10-year-old son who was born with congenital hyperinsulinism, or CHI, a rare, genetic condition where the pancreas releases too much insulin.

Pictures from the Sanfords’ Facebook page show the family smiling, posing in the beds of pickup trucks or in a field of tall sunflowers.

Officials have yet to say what motivated the gunman.

This is at least the second shooting at a church in Michigan since June. In June, a gunman began shooting at people outside the CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne on June 22.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is informally known as the Mormons. Grand Blanc, a town of 7,700 people, is a suburb of Flint and is located about 100km (60 miles) northwest of Detroit. 

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