GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A teenager had to blow his nose right before the Grand Blanc Township church attack, and it might have saved his life. Then, he helped save his family, too.
Jasper, 14, was working as an usher at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, when a man drove his pickup into the building and started firing shots with an assault rifle.
Jasper’s job was to open and close the chapel doors during the sacrament meeting, according to his aunt, Amber. Moments before the attack, he had to step away to blow his nose.
“That small action likely saved his life,” Amber wrote. “Had he stayed in place, he would have been in the direct line of fire.”
Jasper, 14, is credited with helping to save his family during the Sept. 28, 2025, attack at a church in Grand Blanc Township. (Amber (Jasper’s aunt))
Jasper heard the first gunshots as he made his way back to the chapel, and he realized what was happening, his aunt said. He ran to his mother and siblings, who were sitting in the back row on the opposite side.
“Jasper grabbed his 8- and 10-year-old brothers by the collars of their shirts and pulled them into the aisle, steering them toward safety,” Amber wrote. “Their 11-year-old sister, Josie, was caught in a chaotic crowd rushing toward another exit, swept away before Jasper and his mother could reach her.”
At one point, Jasper’s younger brothers got pinned against some glass doors by the rush of people trying to escape, so he shattered the glass with his elbow and pulled them through, Amber said.
“Michelle, Jasper’s mother, displayed extraordinary strength and bravery,” Amber wrote. “She tried to run back toward the flames to find Josie, but Jasper held her arm, refusing to let her go. He assured her they would find Josie, showing composure far beyond his years.”
The family made it to the car before Jasper and Michelle went searching for Josie. They had to hide behind cars because of the continuing gunfire, according to Amber.
Jasper’s father, who had been about 20 minutes away, followed behind police officers and arrived as the attacker was begin confronted.
A Michigan Department of Natural Resources officer and a Grand Blanc Township police officer shot the attacker, killing him.
It took another half-hour for the SWAT team to clear the nearby woods, and that’s when Josie came running out, Amber said.
“Our hearts are broken over this senseless tragedy,” the family said in a statement. “But we are grateful for the little miracles and for Jasper’s bravery. He stepped up, and for that, we couldn’t be prouder.”
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