MI, Grand Blanc - Mass Shooting at Mormon Church, fire, 28 Sept 2025

[nhmemorymaker]

I can’t help but wonder if this could be related to the Charlie Kirk assasination? Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t the man who killed him a member of LDS? Did the church attacker in Grand Blanc see himself as avenging Kirk’s death perhaps?

I have also sensed that the Kirk event might have been a stimulation of action against the LDS Church. Kirk made some flowerery remarks about the church that were so totally vague and trivial, actually--- I mean, Kirk was an Evangelical and they do not hold positive feelings about LDS (and vice versa) so those events in Utah might have been a stimulus to act for TS... but I really do not think it defined his actual motive.. i think we will eventually see that his motive was truly an attack on the LDS church--pure and simple. But Why.
moo,

 

[iamshadow21]

Comments from a friend of the perp:

“How do you mourn the death of someone who did something so terrible?” Kara Pattison said. “If you asked me out of everybody I know to pick 10 people you think might do something like this, I wouldn’t not pick him. And I hate saying that.”

Pattison said she knew Sanford as a “fun-loving family guy,” but also someone who “harbored unkind feelings toward certain groups.”

“He definitely talked about groups of people in ways that weren’t acceptable,” Pattison said.

Extended family of Grand Blanc Township church attacker releases statement

The extended family of the man who killed four people and injured several others at a Grand Blanc Township church released a statement on Tuesday.

www.clickondetroit.com

Wow, I just read that article, and the part where two days earlier he made a move to run people down with his truck, then stopped, rolled down the window and laughed when he recognised they were people he was friends with is terrifying. If he hadn't recognised them, would he have even stopped?

MOO

 

[Knox]

[bbm] sorry, it's an idiom I'm unfamiliar with: what does "the most spec'd out jobs" mean, please? Is it a good thing, or otherwise?

I believe the OP might mean all LDS Churches have a standardized set of building plans. No matter where you build the material and design specifications are all the same, except maybe the size or something specific to State building codes.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I speculated that myself early on, but given what's emerging about his fixation and rage at LDS going back over a decade, I think, like the death of the prophet, it's going to turn out to be a coincidence or just one more thing rather than a true catalyst.

He hated LDS, he thought they were the Antichrist and trying to take over the world for no real reason besides a bad breakup he had that he has never let go of despite having a marriage and a child since then with another woman. Who knows why he decided that Sunday was the day, but from everything that's being said, he was like a train on a track headed that way for a long, long time.

MOO

I do agree. But I am confused a bit about his direct connection to LDS. Obviously, we are now awar of this long-ago relationship in Utah. BUT, I have heard speculation of current wife is LDS... Do we know any truth about the current wife and the family situation in general. I still feel we are eventually going to get more precide detail about this.... and am actually, a bit curious as to why we do not know more about this..... certainly moo....but curious as h.

 

[iamshadow21]

I believe the OP might mean all LDS Churches have a standardized set of building plans. No matter where you build the material and design specifications are all the same, except maybe the size or something specific to State building codes.

Except they don't? They all have the same requirements, but I don't think I've ever been in a church that's an exact copy in layout to another. They all have a chapel, offices, classrooms, bathrooms, etc, but they're never in exactly the same place.

For example - Leura, the most unique and beautiful LDS church I think I've ever seen. Constructed two years after Grand Blanc. There are better pictures just on Google, but here's as official LDS article about it. Leura Latter-day Saint Chapel Recognized for Unique Design

MOO

 

[OneLove]

I do agree. But I am confused a bit about his direct connection to LDS. Obviously, we are now awar of this long-ago relationship in Utah. BUT, I have heard speculation of current wife is LDS... Do we know any truth about the current wife and the family situation in general. I still feel we are eventually going to get more precide detail about this.... and am actually, a bit curious as to why we do not know more about this..... certainly moo....but curious as h.

It would have been a difficult home life for him to be so openly hostile about the LDS church, including being verbally verbose about it to even strangers in his own home, if his wife and mother of his medically challenged son was an active LDS member. Surely people would have taken that as a sign of dangerous extremism. Then again, we don't yet know if his home culture was an environment of extremism, do we?

 

[realanastasia]

Comments from a friend of the perp:

“How do you mourn the death of someone who did something so terrible?” Kara Pattison said. “If you asked me out of everybody I know to pick 10 people you think might do something like this, I wouldn’t not pick him. And I hate saying that.”

Pattison said she knew Sanford as a “fun-loving family guy,” but also someone who “harbored unkind feelings toward certain groups.”

“He definitely talked about groups of people in ways that weren’t acceptable,” Pattison said.

Extended family of Grand Blanc Township church attacker releases statement

The extended family of the man who killed four people and injured several others at a Grand Blanc Township church released a statement on Tuesday.

www.clickondetroit.com

I feel for the victims who say they were blindsided by this attack, but I get the sense that there was already some cognitive dissonance in the interviewees’ description of Sanford—calling him “a fun-loving family guy” who the speakers considered a friend, while acknowledging he had a history of harboring/expressing “unkind feelings” (hate) towards “certain groups” (LDS? Maybe women, given that he “jokingly” tried to commit vehicular homicide against this mother and daughter? Probably others, too?) is hard for me to understand.

 

[iamshadow21]

I feel for the victims who say they were blindsided by this attack, but I get the sense that there was already some cognitive dissonance in the interviewees’ description of Sanford—calling him “a fun-loving family guy” who the speakers considered a friend, while acknowledging he had a history of harboring/expressing “unkind feelings” (hate) towards “certain groups” (LDS? Maybe women, given that he “jokingly” tried to commit vehicular homicide against this mother and daughter? Probably others, too?) is hard for me to understand.

Maybe it's because I experienced severe bullying, but I'm always a bit wary when I see someone described as "funny" or a "clown". Especially when they've committed an act of extreme violence. There's a certain kind of person that can make cruelty seem amusing to others, so long as that cruelty isn't turned on them personally. There's always at least one at your school that you would have known. And some people grow out of it, get wise, and start treating their fellow humans with kindness and respect. And some don't.

MOO

 

[Inthedetails]

Around bonfires with friends, it wasn’t unusual for Sanford to start talking about how Mormons were going to take over, said Frances Tersigni, who along with his twin brother was among Sanford’s best friends.

“It was just so random. It was like, ‘Why Mormons dude?’” Tersigni said. “It’s hard to explain. We didn’t take it serious.”

But there were no signs that he was a threat to anyone, Tersigni said. An avid hunter, Sanford was married now and raising a child at home.

“He never once, never, said ‘I’ve got to do something,’” he said. “There’s a Jake we all knew, and there was one who was hidden. It wasn’t apparent to us.”

Friends of the Michigan church shooting suspect say he long carried hatred toward Mormon faith

Friends of the man accused of killing four people after opening fire in a Michigan church say he long harbored animosity toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but never made any threats against its members.

apnews.com

 

[OneLove]

Around bonfires with friends, it wasn’t unusual for Sanford to start talking about how Mormons were going to take over, said Frances Tersigni, who along with his twin brother was among Sanford’s best friends.

“It was just so random. It was like, ‘Why Mormons dude?’” Tersigni said. “It’s hard to explain. We didn’t take it serious.”

But there were no signs that he was a threat to anyone, Tersigni said. An avid hunter, Sanford was married now and raising a child at home.

“He never once, never, said ‘I’ve got to do something,’” he said. “There’s a Jake we all knew, and there was one who was hidden. It wasn’t apparent to us.”

Friends of the Michigan church shooting suspect say he long carried hatred toward Mormon faith

Friends of the man accused of killing four people after opening fire in a Michigan church say he long harbored animosity toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but never made any threats against its members.

apnews.com

I differ. He was out there in the open. Everyone knew he was crazy, despite being affable & laughable at times. Its a sign for us all. We *know* when someone is not right in the head. They all knew. It was just *easier* to laugh him off. Of course, none of us can know in advance that the "not right thinking" folks in our spheres will shoot up a school or church or grocery store or annihilate an entire family but we CAN learn to admit when a person is off their rocker.

Sometimes it's just stress and can be temporary. But in this case, it seems this went on for 10 years of irrationally blaming an entire worldwide religion for the failure of his romantic relationship and couldn't move on.

What set off his final implosion? So far, we've heard nada about what set him off that final day. Saw his ex being happy on social media? A bad news diagnosis/prognosis? A fight with a family member? Losing his job? House in foreclosure? Its been so silent...

 

[FoxxTraxx]

Utah residents feel deep connections to Michigan church shooting victims​

Jared Hicken grew up in Roosevelt and graduated from BYU before moving to Grand Blanc to serve his residency as a practicing doctor. His family said he took a bullet in the leg while going to check on the driver who just rammed his pickup into the church. His 5-year-old daughter Piper had a bullet go through her back, and his wife Brandi was hit by shrapnel.

Names of additional victims and their backgrounds. They are recovering but are hurting in many ways.

KSTU TV News - Update on LDS Shooting and Fire 9/30/25

 

[iamshadow21]

I differ. He was out there in the open. Everyone knew he was crazy, despite being affable & laughable at times. Its a sign for us all. We *know* when someone is not right in the head. They all knew. It was just *easier* to laugh him off. Of course, none of us can know in advance that the "not right thinking" folks in our spheres will shoot up a school or church or grocery store or annihilate an entire family but we CAN learn to admit when a person is off their rocker.

Sometimes it's just stress and can be temporary. But in this case, it seems this went on for 10 years of irrationally blaming an entire worldwide religion for the failure of his romantic relationship and couldn't move on.

What set off his final implosion? So far, we've heard nada about what set him off that final day. Saw his ex being happy on social media? A bad news diagnosis/prognosis? A fight with a family member? Losing his job? House in foreclosure? Its been so silent...

It's very much a case of, when people show you who they are, believe them. (Thank you, Maya.)

He was showing people all around him what he believed deeply and completely, and nobody who has talked to the press so far took it seriously, pushed back, or suggested he should get help. They just brushed it off, enjoyed his jokes and taking their photos in his sunflower field.

And here we are.

MOO

 

[Charlot123]

Could his hatred be from the request years ago in Utah that he remove his tattoos in order to be sealed in the LDS church? Maybe his tattoos are so meaningful that he was deeply hurt to be rejected because of that and he festered and researched for years, only to get more and more angry? If so, that is definitely an injustice collector.

(I am not taking a stance on tattoos or on the church, but wondering about what HIS perception might have been.)


jmopinion

It just hit me that in his case, the tattoos may be like the flags on his car. Less of an ornament and more of a barrier. If you see the flags on my car, or my tattoos, maybe you won’t try to get closer and see the real me behind them. Sometimes people with extremely low self-esteem resort to things that would draw the attention away from them, behind all these covers. IMHO.

 

[Charlot123]

I differ. He was out there in the open. Everyone knew he was crazy, despite being affable & laughable at times. Its a sign for us all. We *know* when someone is not right in the head. They all knew. It was just *easier* to laugh him off. Of course, none of us can know in advance that the "not right thinking" folks in our spheres will shoot up a school or church or grocery store or annihilate an entire family but we CAN learn to admit when a person is off their rocker.

Sometimes it's just stress and can be temporary. But in this case, it seems this went on for 10 years of irrationally blaming an entire worldwide religion for the failure of his romantic relationship and couldn't move on.

What set off his final implosion? So far, we've heard nada about what set him off that final day. Saw his ex being happy on social media? A bad news diagnosis/prognosis? A fight with a family member? Losing his job? House in foreclosure? Its been so silent...

It is possible that people viewed him as the local jester, not the aggressive type.

 

[iamshadow21]

It just hit me that in his case, the tattoos may be like the flags on his car. Less of an ornament and more of a barrier. If you see the flags on my car, or my tattoos, maybe you won’t try to get closer and see the real me behind them. Sometimes people with extremely low self-esteem resort to things that would draw the attention away from them, behind all these covers. IMHO.

I would say to that, if you're a butch ex military guy going for a tatt to make people back the heck up from you, a dreamcatcher isn't an obvious choice? It's more the kind of thing you see on hippy girls who like yoga and crystals. That's his most obvious tattoo that's visible when he's wearing a t shirt. Sure, there's a strand of barbed wire above it, but it's far smaller and less prominent.

MOO

 

[OneLove]

It is possible that people viewed him as the local jester, not the aggressive type.

I think you could be right. I think

I would say to that, if you're a butch ex military guy going for a tatt to make people back the heck up from you, a dreamcatcher isn't an obvious choice? It's more the kind of thing you see on hippy girls who like yoga and crystals. That's his most obvious tattoo that's visible when he's wearing a t shirt. Sure, there's a strand of barbed wire above it, but it's far smaller and less prominent.

MOO

I haven't researched the deamcatcher yet but when I looked up meaning of barbed wire tat, I got this. Does anyone know if he served any time on his burglary charge?

• Military Use:
  During World War I, a captured soldier being given a barbed wire necklace was a symbolic gesture of survival and congratulations after enduring tough times.
  
  • Prison Tattoos:
    In criminal tattoo culture, barbed wire tattoos could indicate time spent in prison, with the number of barbs sometimes representing the years of sentence.

 

[Betty P]

I feel for the victims who say they were blindsided by this attack, but I get the sense that there was already some cognitive dissonance in the interviewees’ description of Sanford—calling him “a fun-loving family guy” who the speakers considered a friend, while acknowledging he had a history of harboring/expressing “unkind feelings” (hate) towards “certain groups” (LDS? Maybe women, given that he “jokingly” tried to commit vehicular homicide against this mother and daughter? Probably others, too?) is hard for me to understand.

This article quotes his friends saying he struggled with addiction to meth. That would also explain some things.

Michigan shooter hated Mormons and used meth, friends say

A relationship that went wrong may have set Thomas Jacob Sanford off on a decade-long vendetta against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

www.the-independent.com

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1973218778457514016

https://twitter.com/x/status/1973200805713854801