FBI confirms Grand Blanc shooter was motivated by ‘anti-religious beliefs’ against Latter-day Saints

The man who murdered four people at a sacrament meeting in Michigan last month was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the FBI confirmed Friday.

The killer, a former Marine named Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, was killed by law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting.

Previously, the FBI called the attack, in which Sanford also set ablaze the Latter-day Saint meetinghouse, a “targeted act of violence.”

“I am confirming this is a targeted act of violence believed to be motivated by the assailant’s anti-religious beliefs against the Mormon religious community,” Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit field office, said in a prerecorded video message.

The field office declined a request for more information made by the Associated Press.

Sanford slammed a pickup into the outside wall behind the meetinghouse chapel’s pulpit on Sept. 28. He began shooting at church members who ran outside after the crash initially seeking to help the person who hit the church building. Sanford then continued shooting after he entered the building, known as the Grand Blanc Stake Center.

1 of 19

2 of 19

3 of 19

4 of 19

5 of 19

6 of 19

7 of 19

8 of 19

9 of 19

10 of 19

11 of 19

12 of 19

13 of 19

14 of 19

15 of 19

16 of 19

17 of 19

18 of 19

19 of 19

Four church members died:

• Craig Hayden, 78, a former Latter-day Saint bishop, father and grandfather.
• John Bond, 77, a U.S. Navy veteran and grandfather.
• Thelma Armstrong, a mother who attended the church service with her daughter.
• William “Pat” Howard, 77, a Vietnam War veteran with a wife, five children and 13 grandchildren.

The FBI confirmed the number of individuals injured in the attack was nine.

People who knew Sanford said he began to express anti-Latter-day Saint sentiments years ago. He lived for a few years in Utah after he left the Marines with a meth addiction, the AP reported. There, he dated and a Latter-day Saint woman and went through a breakup.

Grand Blanc Township police released body camera footage of officers confronting Sanford at the church on Sept. 28.

Scripture calls upon believers to “mourn with those that mourn … and comfort those that stand in need of comfort," noted one fundraiser for victims.

Fundraisers have raised more than $393,000 for the families of the dead and more than $920,000 for the wounded. In addition to supporting the victims of the shooting, other outreach was given.

One Latter-day Saint launched an online fundraiser for Sanford’s widow and special needs son that raised more than $388,000.

“I don’t have words right now to express when I saw what you as a community have done and remembered us as a family in this situation,” said Sanford’s sister, Katie Hamilton.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles traveled from church headquarters in Salt Lake City on Sept. 30 to minister to each of the wounded and the families of those who died.

He taught that the Atonement of Jesus Christ promises that all people will be resurrected and that Grand Blanc families can know they will see their loved ones again.

“He gives us the strength from heaven to be able to deal with these kinds of hard situations and learn the lessons that can be learned,” Elder Bednar said.

Grand Blanc Stake President Marcelino Sanchez asked church and community members to be peacemakers and work toward unity in an op-ed published by the Detroit Free Press.

“As we navigate through this challenging time,” he wrote, “let us cling to our faith in the Savior and to one another, knowing that together, we can overcome even the darkest of days.”