What we know about the suspect in the Michigan church shootingpublished at 11:13 BST
11:13 BST
Kayleen Devlin, Emma Pengelly and Joshua Cheetham
BBC Verify
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Watch: Drone footage shows fire at Michigan church
After authorities in Michigan named the suspect in yesterday’s Mormon church attack, in which at least four people were killed, we began searching for information about him and his family.
The suspect, 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, was a US Marine Corps veteran.
A 2007 article in a local Michigan newspaper reported he had been stationed in Japan and was soon due to join his battalion in Fallujah, Iraq – as well as noting that both his uncle and grandfather served in the military.
A photo of a truck at the scene of the shooting covered in rubble, showed a numberplate with “Iraq” written across it, which matched images posted on his mother’s Facebook page where the words “Iraq veteran” can be clearly seen.
She also shared photos of Sanford in uniform in 2023, noting he served from 2004 to 2008 and was an “Iraq veteran”.
No motive has yet been identified and we found no evidence Sanford had ties to the Mormon church. His Facebook page has since been removed, but other accounts linked to family members suggest support for President Donald Trump.
In 2019, an image was posted of Sanford in a Trump re-election shirt – and in 2021 his wife used the hashtag “bring back Trump”.
We also identified Sanford’s residence. Street view images from June 2025 show a Trump campaign sign outside the property.
