GRAND BLANC: At least four people were killed and several others wounded Sunday after a shooter targeted a Mormon church in Michigan, authorities said, in the latest deadly tragedy that US President Donald Trump called part of a national &quot;epidemic of violence.&quot; Police in the northern US state said the shooter first rammed the church with his vehicle before opening fire with an assault rifle, and then set the building aflame. The attacker was killed by police in the parking lot eight minutes after the first emergency call came in, Grand Blanc Police Chief William Renye told a press conference. Large police presence&nbsp;Renye said that in addition to two deceased victims announced earlier in the day, two more bodies had been recovered among debris at the burned-down church, with search efforts ongoing. Earlier, he said eight people had also been wounded in the attack, one of whom was in critical condition. AFP journalists in the adjacent town of Burton witnessed a large police presence outside the home of the suspected shooter, whom Renye identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40. Renye and other officials did not provide any further details on Sanford. US media reports said he had grown up in the area and was a military veteran. Reduced to ashesImages of the aftermath at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, a suburb of the city of Flint, showed most of the building reduced to ashes. Photos also showed the truck apparently driven by the attacker into the side of the building, with two US flags on poles in the vehicle&#39;s rear. FBI Special Agent Reuben Coleman told the press conference that the FBI was now leading the investigation, and was looking at the attack &quot;as an act of targeted violence.&quot; Renye earlier said hundreds were inside when the attack commenced, and that more victims may be found among the debris. Trump called the shooting &quot;horrendous&quot; and said it was &quot;yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America.&quot; &lsquo;Tragic act of violence&rsquo;&nbsp;The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose leader had died the previous night aged 101, called Sunday&#39;s attack a &quot;tragic act of violence.&quot; &quot;Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection. We pray for peace and healing for all involved,&quot; it wrote on X.<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-8" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-8&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1972353022270554614&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fmedia-library%2F&sessionId=d3ade6c48ceca5e188b506c9e54b963a0a704a89&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" data-tweet-id="1972353022270554614" style="width: 550px; height: 345px; min-height: 0px; position: static; visibility: visible;"></iframe></div></div></div>Founded in 1830, the Mormon church considers itself a Christian body. Based in the western US state of Utah, there are Mormon churches all over the world, with millions of adherents. The United States, where firearms are readily available, has a long history of gun violence. But tensions have soared in recent weeks after a series of high-profile attacks, including the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and a deadly shooting at a federal immigration enforcement facility in Texas. Mass shooting at Catholic churchSunday&#39;s attack also comes a month after a mass shooting at a Catholic church and school in Minnesota, in which two children were killed while attending Mass, and several others were severely wounded. Political divisions have grown even deeper in the wake of the attacks, with Trump launching a campaign to target left-wing groups he accuses of being &quot;domestic terrorists.&quot; In his Truth Social post Sunday, Trump wrote: &quot;THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!&quot;<div class="fr-embed responsive-video"><div class="video-wrapper aspect-video"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115283020712432544/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" style="width: 100%; height: 100%; min-height: 0px;">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>

Americas

A gunman rammed and opened fire on a Mormon church in Michigan, killing four and wounding eight before being shot by police. The church was set ablaze. Authorities label it a targeted act of violence.

Four killed in attack on northern US Mormon church

GRAND BLANC: Multiple people have been shot at a Mormon church in Michigan and the shooter is down, police said Sunday. The shooting occurred at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 80 kilometers north of Detroit, local police said in a social media post. The church was on fire. Police said there is no ongoing threat to the public. Authorities have not released details on the victims&#39; conditions. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said the area had been evacuated and local and federal authorities were there. &ldquo;The entire church is on fire,&rdquo; Swanson said. &ldquo;This is a dynamic scene.&rdquo; He said authorities would release more details later. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of things that are happening that we are not able to communicate just because of the work that needs to be done,&rdquo; Swanson said. The church, circled by a parking lot and a large lawn, is located near residential areas and a Jehovah&rsquo;s Witness church in Grand Blanc. The community of roughly 8,000 people is just outside Flint. Michigan Governor&nbsp; Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that her heart is breaking for the Grand Blanc community. &ldquo;Violence anywhere especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,&rdquo; she said. The shooting occurred the morning after Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at 101. The next president of the faith, known widely as the Mormon church, is expected to be Dallin H. Oaks, per church protocol.

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)

Police said there is no ongoing threat to the public. Authorities have not released details on the victims' conditions.

Multiple people shot at a Mormon church in Michigan, shooter down

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: capitalize; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: nowrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">WASHINGTON,&nbsp;Russell Nelson, who headed the Mormon church since 2018, died on Saturday night at age 101, the church announced. &quot;With sorrow we announce that Russell M. Nelson, beloved President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away peacefully... at his home in Salt Lake City,&quot; it said in a statement, using the church&#39;s official name. The former heart surgeon was &quot;the oldest president in the history of the Church,&quot; the statement added, without specifying a cause of death. Utah Republican senator Mike Lee lauded Nelson as a &quot;bold, visionary leader prepared by God to testify of Jesus Christ in the very times in which we now live.&quot; Nelson became the 17th president of the Church in January 2018 at age 93, succeeding Thomas Monson. Before becoming president, Nelson successfully pushed for the church to label same-sex married couples as &quot;apostates&quot; and bar their children under the age of 18 from religious rites, including baptisms -- though that policy was scrapped after he took on the role. He also broke with his predecessors and cautioned against using shorthands &quot;LDS&quot; or &quot;Mormons&quot; to refer to the church. Nelson&#39;s successor will be chosen after his funeral by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who like the church&#39;s president are considered prophets by believers. The religious leader is survived by his wife, eight of his children, 57 grandchildren and more than 167 great-grandchildren, according to the church. Founded in 1830, the Mormon church considers itself a Christian body, but bases its doctrines on the Book of Mormon, a text purporting to contain a fuller version of the words of Jesus Christ than that recorded in the Bible. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims a total membership of more than 17.5 million people.

Russell M. Nelson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 2018 and its oldest-ever leader, died at 101. The former heart surgeon guided 17.5 million members worldwide through pivotal doctrinal changes.

Articles tagged with "Mormon Church"

Four killed in attack on northern US Mormon church

Multiple people shot at a Mormon church in Michigan, shooter down

Head of Mormon church dies at 101