Mich. Mormon Church Shooting: Former Marine Accused in Attack
What to know
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A 40-year-old former Marine and Iraq veteran is accused of driving into a Mormon church in Grand Blanc Township on Sunday before opening fire on worshipers and set the building on fire.
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Ten people were shot, four confirmed dead and others were injured, and more fatalities are expected as investigators search the rubble.
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Michigan State Police and local agencies continue to investigate the motive of the gunman, who was fatally shot in the church's parking lot by two responding police officers.
Four of the 10 people in the church have died, and police said earlier Sunday that they expect to find additional fatalities in the rubble of the church.
Two police officers, arriving within 30 seconds of the first call for help at 10:25 a.m., engaged in gunfire with Sanford in the parking lot and shot and killed him within minutes, Renye said.
Little has been released about Sanford. Police are expected to provide another update at 8 p.m. Sunday.
Michigan State Police could be seen at Sanford's home Sunday afternoon, approaching with the department's bomb squad.
The Clarkston News reported that Sanford served a stint in Okinawa, Japan, before serving in Iraq. Sanford's uncle also served in the Marines, while his grandfather served in the Navy during World War II, according to the newspaper.
Randy Thronson, a 71-year-old Burton man who lives a few doors down from Sanford, said it’s usually a quiet area with nothing but fender benders drawing the police to Atherton Road.Thronson said Sanford was a good neighbor who plowed Thronson’s and others’ driveways for free. Thronson served in the military for 25 years and said Sanford also was a veteran.“It’s really sad,” Thronson said. “He might have just snapped.”
He was a "Marine on the move," the Clarkston News reported about Sanford in 2007, saying in the article that Sanford followed an uncle who was a Marine and a grandfather who served in the Navy in WWII.
"Now the 22-year-old Atlas native is faced with an even grater challenge," the article said. The wrecker driver who helped with recovery of damaged vehicles "will join his Marine combat battalion and serve in Fallujah, Iraq," it said.
He told the newspaper ‘I’m excited to go. I’m looking forward to seeing the culture and the people of Iraq. I’ll return with the real news of the situation."
Thronson said Sanford lived there with his wife, at least one kid, and maybe his mother.
Mike Pate, 44, lives near Sanford. He saw the bomb squad as he drove by and stopped to watch them work.Pate grew up in Burton and described it as a nice and quiet area.“(It’s) surreal, having stuff happen this close to us,” he said. “When you see stuff on the news, it seems so far away.”
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