Grand Blance Township Chief of Police William Renye speaks alongside state and county officials following a shooting and a fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025.

Michigan law enforcement authorities identified 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford of Burton, Michigan as the suspect who killed four people and injured eight others when he rammed a pickup truck into a church in central Michigan and opened fire.

One of the eight injured victims is in critical condition while the seven others are in stable condition, officials said at a Sept. 28 evening news conference.

Hundreds of people were attending the service at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, a suburb of Flint, Michigan, when authorities said the suspect drove his vehicle into the church at 10:25 a.m.

The suspect then exited the vehicle and fired “several rounds” at people inside the church with an assault rifle, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said. Sanford used gasoline as an accelerant to light the church on fire, officials said. Sanford died after exchanging gunfire with responding officers in the church's parking lot.

Here's what we know about Sanford:

Motive remains unknown

Police have not identified a motive for the shooting.

"We can't come to those kinds of conclusions for some time," Lt. Kim Vetter, Michigan State Police said when pressed by a reporter.

Law enforcement officers speaking during an evening press conference said the incident is being investigated as an act of "targeted violence." But they did not offer any indication of what the motive for the incident might have been.

Thomas Jacob Sanford lived in nearby town

The suspect's hometown of Burton is about eight miles north of Grand Blanc, Michigan.

The suspect also went by "Jake" to many of his acquaintances, according to records and past news reports.

At 5 p.m. on Sunday, there was a strong showing of law enforcement in front of Sanford's home, according to reporters at the scene from the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.

A Michigan State Police helicopter circled overhead and dozens of police vehicles had the road blocked in front of the home. A bomb squad vehicle with bulldozer tracks and an armored cab was also stationed out front, with other vehicles, including two bomb squad vans, multiple police cruisers and an ambulance waiting at the ready.

An Iraq War veteran

Sanford appears to have been a veteran of the U.S. Marines, according to posts by Sanford's mother on her Facebook page.

Sanford did stints in Japan and Iraq after graduating from Goodrich High School in 2003, according to a 2007 news article from the Clarkston News.

The newspaper described his military career at the time as "stellar." He served in Okinawa, Japan, earned honors "on the rifle range," and was a sergeant before he was sent to serve in Fallujah, Iraq, the newspaper reported. The paper said he was a wrecker driver who helped recovered damage vehicles.

In one post, Sanford's mother posted a photo of Sanford in his Marines uniform. "Thank you to our son.. service 2004-2008.. Iraq Veteran!!" she wrote.

A 2015 article from the Lake Orion Review also referenced Sanford serving in the Marines from 2004 to 2008. He also worked at a Coca-Cola facility for a period, according to the report, although it was unclear in what capacity.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request from USA TODAY seeking information about Sanford's military record.

A hunter and outdoorsman

Sanford appeared to be an avid hunter and fisherman, according to photos on posted on Facebook pages of his loved ones, including his girlfriend and mother.

Photos show him in camouflage hunting gear with deer he had harvested, and fish he'd caught while ice fishing.

Son battled rare disease of hyperinulinism

Sanford's son Brantlee was born about a decade ago with a rare condition called hyperinulinism, where high levels of insulin increase the risk of brain complications.

Doctors could not diagnose him and the family hit dead end after dead end.

“We found out Brantlee was having problems shortly after his birth,” Sanford said in a 2016 interview about their experience. “It was a nightmare for us. We were slowly realizing that Brantlee wasn’t a typical premature baby."

That was until one day they received a call that changed their prognosis.

“My sister had sent me a newsletter from a children’s hospital in Texas called Cook Children’s. I emailed the writer of this article on congenital hyperinsulinism while waiting for a miracle to happen,” Sanford said.

One of the doctors called the family. Together with the baby, Sanford and his wife Tella traveled to Cook Children’s Congenital Hyperinsulinism Center and Endocrine Diabetes program in Texas, one of the few centers in the country that treat the illness.

Suspect photographed in Trump t-shirt

Although Sanford’s political views are unclear, Sanford is seen wearing a camouflage Trump 2020 campaign shirt in a 2019 photo from a Facebook page dedicated to his son’s medical journey.

A Google Street view of a home that public records identify as Sanford’s primary address shows a blue "Trump-Pence" yard sign attached to a backyard fence. The image was taken in June.

Sanford is registered to vote in Burton, Michigan, but available records do not show when he last voted. In Michigan, voters do not register by party.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

Contributing: Andrea May Sahouri and John Wisely, Detroit Free Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What we know about Thomas Jacob Sanford, the Michigan church shooting suspect

Reporting by Chris Quintana, Joey Garrison and Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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