It wasn’t any ordinary day as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints filed into meetinghouses around the world today for Sunday services. They were grieving the loss of their 101-year-old president and prophet, Russell M. Nelson, who died Saturday evening in Salt Lake City.
By the time these services were underway, there was so much more to mourn: Headlines flashed about a vicious attack on an LDS meetinghouse in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
At least five people are dead, including the attacker, and at least eight are injured. According to local media, the suspect drove a truck into the church building and then opened fire. The police said the attacker set fire to the church. The New York Post identified the suspect as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
Following the attack, President Trump posted on Truth Social, calling the attack “targeted.” The motive of the attacker is yet unknown. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer stated, “Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable.”
