Death toll rises to 4 in US Michigan church shooting

MICHIGAN — At least four people were killed and eight others injured on Sunday after a shooter targeted a church and set the building aflame in Grand Blanc, Michigan, authorities said.

The incident occurred early Sunday (local time) at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a small community northwest of Detroit.

Two additional bodies were recovered through debris at the burned-down church, police said Sunday evening, after the death toll rose to two from one in the afternoon.

Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye told a press conference that the shooter drove his car into the church during a large service and opened fire on the crowd with an assault rifle, reports Xinhua news agency.

The police chief said that the gunman, identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, a former US Marine, deliberately set fire to the church.

The suspect, a veteran who served in Iraq, was killed by police after exchanging gunfire at the church, according to police.

Renye said that investigators will search the shooter's home and phone records to determine his motive.

Earlier, local police said in a statement that there were multiple victims in the shooting and the entire church was on fire, urging people to avoid the area as emergency response efforts continued. The wounded, including children, have been transported to local hospitals.

US President Donald Trump said in a post on social media that he has been briefed on the "horrendous" church shooting.

He said that the shooting "appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America" and that the FBI was on the scene. "This epidemic of violence in our country must end, immediately!"

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said that she was receiving updates on the shooting in Grand Blanc.

"My heart is breaking for the Grand Blanc community," Whitmer wrote in a post on social media platform X. "Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable."