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Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, has been identified as the suspect in a shooting at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, where police reported at least two people were killed and eight others injured.Authorities said Sanford drove his pickup truck into the church before exiting and opening fire with an assault rifle.Sanford was killed by the police in the church parking lot, said Grand Blanc Township police chief William Renye, as cited by Click on Detroit.
Who was Thomas Jacob Sanford?
Sanford, a US Marine veteran, reportedly drove his Chevy Silverado into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, before opening fire with a semi-automatic rifle.An old Facebook post by Sanford’s mother indicates that the gunman served in Iraq from 2004 to 2008.Authorities also noted that Sanford’s truck bore a license plate reading “IRAQ” and featured window decals that have not yet been identified.In 2021, he took out a mortgage loan through the Veterans Administration (VA) on his Michigan property, confirming his military service, though the branch remains unclear.Public records indicate that Sanford was a veteran, with his only known legal issue stemming from a rent dispute in Utah, as reported by Newsweek. Social media accounts reportedly linked to Sanford indicate that he was a family man, with a wife and young son, as cited by the New York Post.A now-inactive GoFundMe page from 2015 raised over $3,000 for Sanford’s son, who is now 10, after he was born with congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI), a rare genetic disorder in which the pancreas produces excessive insulin.The shooting comes hours after Russell M Nelson, the 17th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the oldest leader in its history, passed away at his Salt Lake City home on Saturday at the age of 101.
