{"id":19664,"date":"2025-09-29T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=19664"},"modified":"2025-09-29T14:17:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T13:17:25","slug":"how-the-mass-shooting-and-a-devastating-fire-unfolded-at-a-michigan-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/29\/how-the-mass-shooting-and-a-devastating-fire-unfolded-at-a-michigan-church\/","title":{"rendered":"How the mass shooting and a devastating fire unfolded at a Michigan church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Far below the piercing spires atop every Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel is a small sign beckoning those who may want to come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVisitors welcome\u201d messages are part of the uniform of meeting houses, standardized by the LDS church\u2019s governing voices in Salt Lake City and serving as a testament to the faith\u2019s robust evangelizing efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on Sunday morning, one visitor took advantage of the church\u2019s open arms, ramming his truck into a chapel in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan<\/a>, then setting it on fire and shooting at worshippers before dying in a shootout<\/a> with police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least four people were killed and eight others wounded. More are still unaccounted for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chapel on McCandlish Road, a quiet stretch dotted with houses near a sprawling golf course and lake, is the latest place of worship devastated by America\u2019s unrelenting gun violence, from a Catholic church<\/a> in Minneapolis to a synagogue<\/a> in Pittsburgh to a Sikh temple<\/a> in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in central Michigan, the FBI is leading the investigation into the attack as an act of targeted violence, authorities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sundays are \u201csupposed to be a time of peace and a time of reflection and worship,\u201d Timothy Jones, who belongs to an LDS congregation 15 minutes away from Grand Blanc, told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the wake of violence at houses of worship, a shooting \u201cfeels inevitable,\u201d he said, \u201cand all the more tragic because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A big bang, and the doors flew open\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It had been what the denomination calls a \u201cfast Sunday,\u201d when members globally are encouraged once a month to forgo two meals and donate the food, or the money they would have spent on food, to the poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a Sunday in which members of the church are being told to think of other people, to be charitable, to be kind, to reach out and give,\u201d said Matthew Bowman, professor of history and religion at Claremont Graduate University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fasting is also common in the church in times of grieving \u2013 and those headed to the weekly 10 a.m. service in Grand Blanc had reason for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Church<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Church members and residents reunite Sunday at Trillium Theater across the street from the site of a shooting and fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc. Emily Elconin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a day earlier, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, President Russell M. Nelson, had died<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By late Sunday morning, the worshippers about 60 miles northwest of Detroit had finished the Sacrament \u2013 the first half of the two-hour service, after which some congregants leave \u2013 when Paula and another churchgoer were helping a woman into a car, she told CNN affiliate WXYZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe heard a big bang,\u201d Paula said, \u201cand the doors flew open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A four-door pickup with two American flags sitting straight up against the back window in the bed rammed into the front of the chapel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 40-year-old suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford<\/a>, fired several rounds from an assault weapon at the worshippers, police later said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Churchgoer Brian was trying to help some elderly ladies into his car when the gunman opened fire on their vehicle, he told WXYZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were trying to gather as many people as we could,\u201d said Brian, his button-down shirt stained with blood and right hand wrapped in gauze. \u201cI saw the active shooter come out of the building, and at that point, I just started trying to drive away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paula couldn\u2019t see the shooter, she said, and didn\u2019t know whether he had entered the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know if we had to get down because we couldn\u2019t see anybody,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Churchgoers rushed to protect children, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said Sunday at a news conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were shielding the children,\u201d he said, \u201cmoving them to safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gunfire, though, wasn\u2019t the only danger: A fire had sparked in the red brick meeting house with the lone, white spire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of a sudden, I saw smoke coming out,\u201d Cindy Walsh, who was at home near the chapel when she heard shots, told WXYZ. \u201cAnd then people were coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exhaustive search for victims continues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Scores of emergency sirens reverberated along the hushed road Sunday morning as police officers rushed in less than 30 seconds after the first call to 911, Renye said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the suspect fled the church, two officers pursued him and \u201cengaged in gunfire,\u201d the police chief said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight minutes after police arrived, the gunman was killed in the parking lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responders\u2019 attention turned to rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fire moved rapidly, engulfing the chapel and sending massive plumes of thick, black smoke across the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When striking nurses at nearby Henry Ford Genesys Hospital heard about the shooting, some left the picket line and ran to the nearby church to help first responders, Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHuman lives matter more than our labor dispute,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firefighters battled the blaze and the thick clouds of smoke for hours as onlookers behind a police cordon stared in disbelief. Some survivors gathered at a reunification center, hugging each other in tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Emergency<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Emergency services respond Sunday to a shooting and fire at the chapel in Grand Blanc. Bill Pugliano\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities Sunday evening were still combing through debris and \u201cworking tirelessly to find additional bodies,\u201d Renye said, unable to define how many people were still missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up to seven people may have been unaccounted for as authorities concluded search efforts for the night late Sunday, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian worried about his fellow worshippers: \u201cWe don\u2019t know the status of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s devastating to know I lost friends,\u201d said Paula, who had joined the Grand Blanc church 38 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapel building a \u2018total loss\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Authorities are \u201ctrying to determine exactly when and where that fire ended up coming from and how it got started,\u201d though they believe the suspect started the fire \u201cdeliberately,\u201d Renye added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some victims were \u201cnear the fire and they were unable to get out of the church,\u201d the police chief said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanford used an accelerant, like gasoline, police believe, to light the church on fire, said James Deir, special agent in charge of the Detroit field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Evidence technicians went to process the scene after the fire was extinguished, and investigators said they found \u201csome suspected explosive devices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m shaken, I\u2019m very shaken,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a change in this world. There\u2019s so much hate in this world. I just don\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chapel, once bathed in sunlight and surrounded by greenery, is now unrecognizable. The building is a \u201ctotal loss,\u201d Renye said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debris piles have replaced pews; the welcoming meeting house has closed its doors; and the LDS church\u2019s mounting grief has swelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the tall white spire, which once towered over Grand Blanc worshippers as it reached toward heaven, is gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Far below the piercing spires atop every Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel is a small sign beckoning those who may want to come in. \u201cVisitors welcome\u201d messages are part of the uniform of meeting houses, standardized by the LDS church\u2019s governing voices in Salt Lake City and serving as a testament to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-92.png?fit=860%2C573&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19672,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19664\/revisions\/19672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}