This morning, only moments after the violent attack on churchgoers in Grand Blanc, MI, the Gateway Pundit reported about the incident.
At the time of the incident, very little was known about the gunman who opened fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on McCandlish Road.
Early reports claimed that 6-8 victims of the gunman had been taken to the hospital, although the exact toll was not confirmed. Later, it was discovered that one person was killed by the alleged shooter and an additional 8 individuals were taken to the hospital. The church caught fire during the incident, triggering a massive four-alarm emergency response.
At a recent press conference, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye did not name the shooter, but did say that the suspect of the mass shooting inside the Mormon Church was a 40-year-old man from Burton, MI, a neighboring city just outside Grand Blanc, roughly 60 miles north of Detroit.
Now, it’s been confirmed that the alleged shooter, who was killed by law enforcement, is Thomas Jacob Sandford, a 40-year-old former U.S. Marine who fought in Iraq.
Law enforcement sources confirmed that investigators were stationed outside Sanford’s home on Atherton Road, which has been cordoned off as a crime scene. Property records list Sanford as the owner of both the residence and a 2008 GMC Sierra pickup truck, the same vehicle used to ram into the church during the attack.
The New York Post claims an old Facebook post by Sanford’s mother says the gunman — who died at the scene in a shootout with cops — served in Iraq from 2004-2008.
Law enforcement sources confirmed that Sanford, from nearby Burton, Michigan, is the shooting suspect. Sources told the Post that authorities also found several improvised explosive devices on church property, which a bomb squad was investigating.
The Gateway Pundit looked up the alleged shooter’s home address and found a Trump-Vance sign wedged behind a STOP sign on what appears to be his property, according to records. We verified his address on SmartBackgroundCheck.com and CheckMyVote.org, where we were able to view his voting record. It appears that the alleged shooter registered to vote in the 2018 midterms following Trump’s first presidential election victory in 2016.
While many on social media claim the shooter has a history of criticizing President Trump, we couldn’t find any evidence of their claims. We did, however, find a Google Maps image of the home owned by the alleged shooter that reveals a STOP sign placed in front of a Trump-Pence sign, which appears to indicate he was sending a “STOP Trump/Pence!” message to those who passed by his property on E. Atherton Rd. in rural Burton, MI.
Please pray for a full recovery for the victims of this sick individual and for law enforcement, who will be tasked with examining the church that was destroyed by the fire, for innocent parishioners who may not have escaped the violent attack on yet another church in America.
