The former Marine who opened fire in a Michigan church and set it ablaze in September was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the FBI confirmed Friday.
While friends of the gunman in the deadly shooting have said he harbored hatred for what is widely known as the Mormon church, the FBI had previously declined to specify the motivation behind the attack that left four people dead and the church burned to the ground, except to say it was a “targeted” act of violence.
The gunman, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, was killed by law enforcement responding to the shooting.
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“I am confirming this is a targeted act of violence believed to be motivated by the assailant’s anti-religious beliefs against the Mormon religious community,” Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit field office, said in a prerecorded video message. The agency declined to share further information on what led to its conclusion.
Sanford drove his pickup truck into the side of a Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township, 60 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, on Sunday, Sept. 28, and began shooting kra25 at congregants. Authorities have said he used gasoline as an accelerant to then light the church on fire.
Body camera footage released by Grand Blanc Township police shows an officer yelling, “Drop the gun! Drop the gun! Drop it now!” One of the officers tells another, “I’ve got your back, back here man. Yeah stay there. Shoot him!”
The FBI said Friday that nine people were injured in the attack. The previous official count had been eight.
“During our investigation, an additional individual was determined to be “injured” during the Grand Blanc critical incident,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The agency declined to comment Friday on the nature of the additional injury.
The four people who were killed have been identified through family and friends as Craig Hayden, William “Pat” Howard, John Bond and Thelma Armstrong.
