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By Danya Gainor, Holly Yan, CNN
(CNN) — Far below the piercing spires atop every Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel rests a sign that beckons, “Visitors welcome” – a testament to the faith’s robust evangelizing efforts.
But on Sunday morning, a former Marine and Iraq War veteran took advantage of the denomination’s open arms – plowing his truck into an LDS church in Michigan, shooting worshippers with an assault weapon and setting the chapel on fire.
At least four people were killed at the church in tranquil Grand Blanc Township. Eight others were wounded. And up to seven people could be unaccounted for as search crews resume a harrowing search in the charred debris of what used to be a haven of hope.
The assailant died in a shootout with police. It’s not clear why he unleashed multifaceted horror at this particular church, about 60 miles northwest of Detroit. The FBI is investigating the attack as an act of targeted violence, authorities said.
“The FBI is currently executing multiple search warrants at the residences and the family homes of this perpetrator to try to get to the bottom of why he would commit such an act of evil,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday morning, citing her earlier conversation with FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Based on my conversations with the FBI director, all they know right now is this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith, and they are trying to understand more about this, how premeditated it was, how much planning went into it, whether he left a note,” she said, adding the killer’s family is cooperating.
The chapel on McCandlish Road, a quiet stretch dotted with houses near a sprawling golf course and lake, was among 324 mass shootings this year in the US. It’s also the latest place of worship devastated by America’s unrelenting gun violence – from a Catholic church in Minneapolis to a synagogue in Pittsburgh to a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.
Sundays are “supposed to be a time of peace and a time of reflection and worship,” Timothy Jones, who belongs to an LDS congregation 15 minutes away from Grand Blanc, told the Associated Press.
But in the wake of violence at houses of worship, a shooting “feels inevitable,” he said, “and all the more tragic because of that.”
‘A big bang, and the doors flew open’
It had been what the denomination calls a “fast Sunday,” when members globally are encouraged once a month to forgo two meals and donate the food, or the money they would have spent on food, to the poor.
“This is a Sunday in which members of the church are being told to think of other people, to be charitable, to be kind, to reach out and give,” said Matthew Bowman, professor of history and religion at Claremont Graduate University.
Fasting is also common in the church in times of grieving – and those headed to the weekly 10 a.m. service in Grand Blanc had reason for it.
Just a day earlier, the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson, had died.
Late Sunday morning, the worshippers had just finished the Sacrament – the first half of the two-hour service, after which some congregants leave – when the attack unfolded, a churchgoer named Paula told CNN affiliate WXYZ.
“We heard a big bang,” she said, “and the doors flew open.”
A four-door pickup with two American flags sitting straight up against the back window in the bed rammed into the front of the chapel.
The 40-year-old attacker, Thomas Jacob Sanford, fired several rounds from an assault weapon at the worshippers, police later said.
Churchgoer Brian was trying to help some elderly ladies into his car when the gunman opened fire on their vehicle, he told WXYZ.
“We were trying to gather as many people as we could,” said Brian, his button-down shirt stained with blood and right hand wrapped in gauze. “I saw the active shooter come out of the building, and at that point, I just started trying to drive away.”
Paula couldn’t see the shooter, she said, and didn’t know whether he had entered the church.
“I didn’t know if we had to get down because we couldn’t see anybody,” she said.
Churchgoers rushed to protect children, shielding them and moving them to safety, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said Sunday.
When nurses on strike at nearby Henry Ford Genesys Hospital heard about the shooting, some left the picket line and ran to the nearby church to help first responders, Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass said.
“Human lives matter more than our labor dispute,” he said.
But gunfire wasn’t the only danger. A fire had started in the church’s red brick meeting house.
“All of a sudden, I saw smoke coming out,” Cindy Walsh, who was at home near the chapel, told WXYZ. “And then people were coming out.”
Exhaustive search for victims continues
Police officers descended on the scene some 30 seconds after the first 911 call, Renye said. Two pursued the suspect and “engaged in gunfire.”
Eight minutes after police arrived, the gunman was killed in the parking lot.
Meanwhile, the raging fire moved rapidly, quickly engulfing the chapel – with an unknown number of people still in the church – as it billowed massive plumes of thick, black smoke.
As the sun went down, crews were still sifting through debris and “working tirelessly to find additional bodies,” Renye said, adding he couldn’t confirm the exact number of people missing.
Up to seven people may be unaccounted for, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN late Sunday.
Chapel building a ‘total loss’
Authorities are “trying to determine exactly when and where that fire ended up coming from and how it got started,” though they believe the shooter started the fire “deliberately,” Renye added.
Some victims were “near the fire and they were unable to get out of the church,” the police chief said.
Sanford used an accelerant, like gasoline, police believe, to light the church on fire, said James Deir, special agent in charge of the Detroit field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Evidence technicians went to process the scene after the fire was extinguished, and investigators said they found “some suspected explosive devices.”
“I’m shaken, I’m very shaken,” Walsh said. “I’ve seen a change in this world. There’s so much hate in this world. I just don’t understand it.”
The chapel, once bathed in sunlight and surrounded by greenery, is now unrecognizable. The building is a “total loss,” Renye said.
Debris piles have replaced pews; the welcoming meeting house has closed its doors; and the LDS church’s mounting grief has swelled.
And the tall white spire, which once towered over Grand Blanc worshippers as it reached toward heaven, is gone.
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CNN’s Josh Campbell contributed to this report.
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