Michigan church shooting suspect: Police reveal shooter’s name amid investigation; check here

In a big development in the Michigan church shooting case, police have identified the shooting suspect as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, according to CNN. The incident occurred on Sunday, September 28, 2025, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 50 miles north of Detroit, local police said in a social media post, as reported by news agency AP. At least two people were killed, and eight others were injured, according to police.

In a news conference held hours following the shooting incident, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said that one of the eight victims injured in the church shooting incident is in critical condition, CNN reported. He also said that seven other victims shot in the attack are in stable condition. The latest developments come after police had previously informed that a total of eight people were shot and injured and two were killed. The shooter is also dead.

Earlier, Renye had stated that officers killed the suspect following the exchange of gunfire at the church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, as reported by CNN. The chief had also said that two officers were involved: one from the Department of Natural Resources and another from Grand Blanc Township.
Renye also informed that more victims are expected to be found at the church where today’s shooting and fire occurred. He said that the fire has been extinguished. “We do believe that we will find additional victims once we have that scene secure,” he added, as quoted by CNN.

According to CNN, authorities claimed that the suspect “deliberately” set fire to the church. “There was a fire that occurred, and we believe that was deliberately set by the suspect,” Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said. “That fire was just extinguished by the Grand Blanc Township Fire Department within the past hour,” he added.

Sanford, the suspect, crashed his vehicle through the front doors of a Mormon church in Michigan and came out firing an assault rifle, killing two people and wounding eight others before dying in a shootout with police, officials said. The 40-year-old from the nearby town of Burton, also set fire to the church, which was engulfed in flames and billowing smoke.

“We do believe that we will find some additional victims once we find the area where the fire was,” Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye told a press conference. Hundreds of people were inside, Renye said. Investigators will search the shooter’s home and phone records in search of a motive, Renye said.