Michigan church shooting latest: FBI search for motive as details emerge of suspect’s relationship with Mormon woman

Ryan Lopez, a Michigan resident who attended high school with suspected gunman Thomas Jacob Sanford, told The New York Times he ran into the 40-year-old at the gym just a few weeks before the shooting.

“He was happy to see me,” Lopez said of Sanford, who was killed in a shootout with police. “He just seemed normal.”

Lopez said Sanford enjoyed hunting and grew up like a typical “country kid.” Lopez noted that they both joined the Marines after high school. Sanford served from 2004 to 2008, and was deployed to Iraq in 2007.

Sanford’s father, Thomas Sanford, told the Detroit Free Press that his son worked with vehicles while enlisted.

“He came back. I’m glad he came back in one piece,” he said. “He was in logistics. He drove a wrecker and went out and picked up vehicles. One time, he was under fire but most of the time he was fine.”

Jon Stewart lashed out against the media’s “left-right blame game” as he discussed the deadly Michigan church shooting on Monday’s episode of The Daily Show.

Owen Scott has the story:

Law enforcement officials praised the “heroes” who sprang into action when gunfire broke out at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan.

“I will tell you that there are noble heroes who do not wear a uniform that went to that church [on Sunday],” Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said at a press conference on Monday.

“I will tell you this: those heroes from that church did their job,” he added.

It has since been revealed that two fourth-year emergency residents at the nearby Henry Ford Genesys Hospital were present at the church and helped others in the midst of the attack, despite being victims themselves.

A GoFundMe page identified them as Jared Hicken and S Bridger Hampton.

“Not only were they victims, but they also sprang into action, helping others amidst danger, smoke, and confusion,” the page reads.

Thomas Jacob Sanford previously lived in Utah and dated a woman there who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The New York Times reports.

They fell in love, but the relationship ended painfully, according to the outlet.

When Sanford returned to Michigan after the relationship, he was “in rough shape,” his friend, Peter Tersigni, told the Times.

Sandra Winter, who rented a room to Sanford in Utah, also told the Times that he had dated an “extremely religious” woman and that he felt pressure to join the church.

“He wasn’t so sure that he wanted to become a member of the church,” she said. “But he really wanted to be with this woman.”

A long-time friend of Sanford’s, Peter Tersigni, told The New York Times that the gunman’s time in the military changed him.

After leaving the Marines, Sanford went to live in Jeremy’s Ranch, Utah, where he became romantically involved with a woman who was a devout follower of the Mormon church.

The Times reports that during these times, the gunman became a heavy user of methamphetamine.

Tersigni said that his relationship ended “painfully.”

Tersigni’s brother, Francis, said that the gunman would talk endlessly about Mormons.

“He got this whole fascination with Mormons, and they are the Antichrist, and they are going to take over the world. All he could talk about was Mormons. I was like, dude, nobody wants to hear about this stuff,” Francis Tersigni said.

Two of those wounded in Sunday’s attack are aspiring doctors Jared Hicken and S Bridger Hampton.

Both are fourth-year emergency residents at Henry Ford Genesys in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

“Not only were they victims, but they also sprang into action, helping others amidst danger, smoke, and confusion,” the page reads.

One former acquaintance of Thomas Jacob Sanford called him a “good guy,” saying she and her husband, who worked with him, were “shocked” to hear his name read out on the news.

Here’s Justin Rohrlich’s exclusive reporting on the shocked reaction to Sunday’s events from the suspect’s friends and neighbors.

John Bond, a U.S. Navy veteran, a beloved father and grandfather, was identified by his family as having died during the attack, according to an ABC News report.

His family said that Bond was a “well-known and loved member of his family and active in his community.”

His passions in life were his family, grandkids, golf, and trains.

According to a GoFundMe page that his loved ones have set up, he is survived by his wife, Joanne. At the time of writing, the page has raised over $11,000.

Two days before Sunday’s massacre, the mother of suspected shooter Thomas Jacob Sanford made a cryptic post on Facebook about someone in her life who refused to take “accountability” and who always “twists everything.”

That’s according to reports from The New York Post and The Daily Mail, which identified the now-deleted Facebook profile as belonging to Sanford’s mother Brenda.

It’s not clear who her post was referring to and the words were not originally hers. Instead, they seem to have been part of a copy-pasted meme that has been circulating on social media since at least August.

Former congresswoman and gun violence prevention activist Gabrielle Giffords called yesterday’s shooting “devastating” in a statement on X.

“Families deserve safety wherever they are, but being targeted while practicing one’s faith is especially horrific,” Giffords said.

“We know that more can be done to save lives and prevent targeted violence. Our leaders, on both sides of the aisle, must act now, before yet another community is altered forever by a horrific mass shooting.”