Iraq War veteran Thomas Sanford ID’d as gunman who attacked Grand Blanc LDS church, killing 4 and setting it ablaze

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By 

Joe Marino and

Chris Nesi

Published Sep. 28, 2025, 3:48 p.m. ET2.5K Comments

https://nypost.com/2025/09/28/us-news/iraq-war-veteran-thomas-sanford-idd-as-gunman-who-attacked-grand-blanc-lds-church-killing-2-and-setting-it-ablaze/

The madman who killed at least four people and wounded eight others at a Michigan Latter-day Saints church is a 40-year-old Iraq War veteran who served in the US Marines, The Post can confirm. 

Thomas Jacob Sanford rammed his Chevy Silverado truck into the building before opening fire on worshipers at a Sunday service at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan.

The vehicle had two large American flags behind the cab and a set of deer antlers attached to the bumper.

Thomas Jacbob Sanford
Thomas Jacbob Sanford, a Marine and Iraq War veteran.Facebook/Jake Sanford
Massive flames and smoke rise from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
In this image taken from video released by Julie J, @Malkowski6April, massive flames and smoke rise from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 50 miles north of Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025.AP

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A firefighter facing a vehicle that rammed into a church building, surrounded by smoke.
A firefighter facing a vehicle that rammed into the church building.AP

He also set the church ablaze, causing the entire structure to burn down. Authorities fear there may be more victims in the fire.

A Facebook post by Sanford’s mother says the gunman — who died at the scene in a shootout with cops — served in Iraq from 2004 to 2008.

He was killed minutes after the first 911 call came in. A Department of Natural Resources officer and a local township cop responded in about 30 seconds, authorities said.

Michigan LDS shooting fire
At least four people have died and nine others were wounded in the attack on Sunday.Facebook/Grand Blanc Residents Uncensored
Thomas Jacob Sanford's Chevy Silverado pickup truck flying two American flags.
Thomas Jacob Sanford’s Chevy Silverado pickup truck flying two American flags.Facebook/Jake Sanford
Smoke fills the air around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with visible damage to the building.
Smoke fills the air around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with visible damage to the building.AP

Authorities later confirmed that Sanford, from nearby Burton, Michigan, is the lone suspect.

The source of the blaze was not immediately known, but sources told The Post that authorities found improvised explosive devices on church property, which a bomb squad was investigating.

A bomb squad was also searching Sanford’s house.

Cops said there were hundreds of worshippers inside the church when the attack began, with aerial footage showing an enormous plume of choking black smoke rising from the structure as it burned.

Social media accounts believed to be connected to Sanford show he was a family man, with a wife and young son.

A pickup truck surrounded by smoke and debris after ramming into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building.
The pickup truck surrounded by smoke and debris after ramming into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building.AP
Emergency responders at the scene of a mass shooting at a Church of Latter-Day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, where one person is dead and nine others are wounded.
The source of the blaze was not immediately known, but sources told The Post authorities found several improvised explosive devices on church property, which a bomb squad was investigating.Facebook/Grand Blanc Residents Uncensored
Police block a road near a church shooting in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
Cops said there were hundreds of worshippers inside the church when the attack began, with aerial footage showing an enormous plume of choking black smoke rising from the structure as it burned.AFP via Getty Images

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 in which 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.

Follow The Post’s coverage of the Michigan church shooting

An unnamed witness told Fox 2 Detroit that the attack started just after the congregational hymn, when hundreds of people were inside the building for the 10 a.m. service.

Churchgoers reportedly heard a loud bang as the attacker crashed his truck into the building.

“We at first thought someone had accidentally crashed into the church, so we went out to help him,” the man told the local TV station.

Paul Kirby, 38, who also ran outside to render assistance, believing it to be an accident, told the New York Times he saw the man getting out of the truck from about 10 to 20 yards away before he realized what was happening.

“He started shooting at me,” Kirby said, adding that a bullet whizzed through a nearby glass door, clipping his leg with a piece of shrapnel.

He rushed inside the church to find his wife and two sons before they fled through the back and loaded as many people into their car as they could before speeding away.

Grand Blanc resident Tony Deck told USA Today that he drove by the church after hearing sirens and saw “at least four yellow canvases over dead bodies.”

Thomas Jacbob Sanford
Thomas Jacbob Sanford in his Marine uniform.Facebook/Jake Sanford

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Aerial photos showed the massive fire that started during the attack fully engulfing the house of worship.

Meanwhile, detectives are probing whether the mass shooting and fire has any connection to the death of longtime national LDS church president Russel M. Nelson, who died Saturday in Salt Lake City at age 101, according to a source briefed on the investigation who spoke to ABC News. 

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