Terror and Tragedy at the Altar: Michigan Church Rocked by Mass Shooting and Raging Fire

Mass Shooting: Every chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a modest sign enticing anybody who may desire to enter, far below the piercing spires aloft.

Standardized by the governing bodies of the LDS church in Salt Lake City, “Visitors welcome” messages are a part of meeting house uniforms and serve as evidence of the faith’s vigorous proselytizing efforts.

Mass Shooting

However, one guest used the church’s hospitality on Sunday morning by smashing his vehicle into a chapel in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, burning it down, shooting at worshipers, and then dying in a gunfight with police.

There were at least four fatalities and eight injuries. There are still more missing. Along with a Catholic church in Minneapolis, a synagogue in Pittsburgh, and a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, the chapel on McCandlish Road—a peaceful area sprinkled with homes next to a lake and golf course—is the most recent site of worship to be ravaged by America’s continuous gun murder.The FBI is now spearheading the investigation into the incident, which police described as a targeted act of violence in central Michigan.

Timothy Jones, a member of an LDS church 15 minutes outside Grand Blanc, told the Associated Press that Sundays are “supposed to be a time of peace and a time of reflection and worship.”

However, he said that a shooting “feels inevitable” and is all the more terrible in the aftermath of violence at places of worship.

With a loud clatter, the doors swung open.

Members worldwide are urged to skip two meals once a month and give the food—or the money they would have spent on food—to the underprivileged on what the denomination refers to as a “fast Sunday.”

“On this Sunday, churchgoers are being urged to be kind, charitable, and considerate of others,” said Matthew Bowman, a history and theology professor at Claremont Graduate University. Those who attended the weekly service in Grand Blanc at 10 a.m. had good cause to fast, which is also customary in the church at times of grief.

President Russell M. Nelson, the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had passed away the day before. Paula told CNN affiliate WXYZ that she and another churchgoer were assisting a lady into a vehicle late on Sunday morning, after the worshipers, who were located about 60 miles northwest of Detroit, had completed the Sacrament, which is the first half of the two-hour ceremony, after which some attendees depart.

Paula said, “The doors flew open and we heard a big bang.”

The chapel was struck by a four-door pickup truck with two American flags in the bed, positioned directly against the rear window. According to authorities, Thomas Jacob Sanford, a 40-year-old suspect, shot the worshipers many times with an assault rifle. Brian, a churchgoer, told WXYZ that the shooter started fire on the elderly women as he attempted to assist them into his car.

With his right hand covered in gauze and his button-down shirt smeared with blood, Brian said, “We were trying to gather as many people as we could.” “I just started attempting to drive away when I saw the active shooter exit the building.”

Paula said that she was unable to see the gunman and was unsure whether he had entered the chapel. “We couldn’t see anyone, so I wasn’t sure if we had to get down,” she said. During a press conference on Sunday, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said that churchgoers hurried to safeguard youngsters.

He said that they were transferring the kids to safety and protecting them. But the threat wasn’t limited to gunfire; the red brick meeting house with the lone white tower had caught fire.

Cindy Walsh, who was at her house next to the chapel when she heard gunfire, said WXYZ, “All of a sudden, I saw smoke coming out.” “After that, people started to emerge.”

The thorough search for casualties is still ongoing.

Less than 30 seconds after the first 911 call, police officers hurried in, causing scores of emergency sirens to vibrate throughout the quiet road on Sunday morning, according to Renye. Two policemen followed the man as he left the church and “engaged in gunfire,” according to the police chief.

The shooter was dead in the parking lot eight minutes after the cops arrived. The focus of responders shifted to rescue. The chapel was quickly consumed by the fire, which also sent enormous plumes of dense, black smoke upward.

According to Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass, several striking nurses at neighboring Henry Ford Genesys Hospital fled the picket line to assist first responders at the adjacent church after learning about the incident.

He said, “Human lives are more important than our labor dispute.” While witnesses behind a police cordon gaped in shock, firefighters fought the fire and the dense smoke clouds for hours. At a reunion facility, several survivors met and gave each other tearful hugs.

Renye, who was unable to specify the number of individuals still missing, said that authorities were still searching through wreckage and “working tirelessly to find additional bodies” on Sunday evening.

Authorities wrapped up their nighttime search late Sunday, leaving up to seven persons missing, a law enforcement source familiar with the case told media. Brian expressed concern about his fellow worshipers, saying, “We don’t know the status of them.” “Knowing that I lost friends is heartbreaking,” Paula, who joined the Grand Blanc church 38 years ago, said.

Chapel construction is a “complete loss.”

Although they think the suspect caused the fire “deliberately,” they are “trying to determine exactly when and where that fire ended up coming from and how it got started,” Renye said.

According to the police chief, several victims were “near the fire and they were unable to get out of the church.” Police suspect Sanford set the church on fire using an accelerant, such as gasoline, according to James Deir, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Detroit field division. After the fire was put out, evidence technicians processed the area, and investigators reported finding “some suspected explosive devices.”

Walsh said, “I’m shaken, I’m very shaken.” “This world has changed, in my opinion. This world is filled with hatred. I just don’t comprehend it.

The chapel is no longer the same as it was when it was sunny and surrounded by vegetation. According to Renye, the structure is a “total loss.”

Pews have been replaced by debris mounds, the welcome meeting house is closed, and the LDS church’s growing sorrow has increased. And gone is the great white spire that once stretched toward heaven and towered above Grand Blanc devotees.