Two officers take on alleged Grand Blanc Mormon church shooter, bodycam video shows

George Hunter, The Detroit News on Oct 3, 2025

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GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. — As a gunman brandished his rifle outside the Grand Blanc Township Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Sunday after reportedly shooting 10 people and setting the building on fire, a police officer responding to the emergency hollered a command to a colleague, according to his body-worn camera video.

"Shoot him! Shoot him!" the officer is heard yelling on the 47-second clip that was released Friday by Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye.

After ordering the gunman several times to drop his gun, the officers — an unnamed Grand Blanc Township officer and an unnamed Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer — opened fire on the suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, according to the video that Renye showed during a press conference and later released to the media.

Both officers fired 10 shots at Sanford within 3 minutes and 43 seconds of the Genesee County 911 dispatch getting its first call at 10:25 a.m., Renye said. That is shorter than the first estimate of finding the shooter dead 8 minutes after the first call came in, he said.

The chief took no questions during the 15-minute briefing.

The two officers are on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the Michigan State Police, Renye said.

"I will not release the officers' names at this time," he said.

Sanford, 40, of Burton is accused of ramming his pickup truck into the side of the church on Sunday morning during a service, opening fire on congregants and setting the building on fire. Two people were shot dead, eight were wounded and two bodies were discovered in the rubble of the church, with the victims ranging in age from 6 to 78 years old. Sanford was shot dead at the scene, police said.

The event is being investigated as an act of "targeted violence," said Reuben Coleman, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. The FBI is now leading the investigation.

About two minutes after someone called in at 10:25 a.m. to report being shot in the stomach at the Grand Blanc Township church, the conservation officer arrived on the scene, Renye said. About a minute later, at 10:28 a.m., the unnamed officer arrived, he said, basing the new timeline on his review of bodycam video.

"Shots being fired ... south end of the building," the unnamed township officer said in the released bodycam video clip.

He then tells someone, "I got your back, back there, man. Yes, stay there."

Another person can be heard screaming: "Get on the ground! Get on the ground!"

The officer can be seen preparing his gun to be fired as he runs toward the church.

As the officer approaches the church, two more shots can be heard being fired. As he gets to the sidewalk, the video shows a man with a gun pointed in the direction of the shooter, whom Renye described as a church member who didn't fire his weapon.

Two different people can be heard yelling: "Drop it! Drop it now! Drop it!"

As the Grand Blanc Township officer pivots to the right at the corner of the church, the DNR conservation officer comes into view.

The officers continued to tell the gunman in the church parking lot to drop his weapon. When there is no response, multiple shots can be heard being fired. As the Grand Blanc officer checks on the DNR officer, who was closer to the gunman when the shots were fired, the gunman's body can be seen lying in the parking lot.

Reyne said his officer fired what he believed to be eight shots, and the DNR officer fired two shots.

The paid administrative leave and state police investigation are standard procedures in officer-related shooting cases, the police chief said.

Out of concern for the family of Sanford and others who are grieving, Renye said he edited the released clip down to 47 seconds and didn't include video of the Grand Blanc officer approaching and checking out Sanford after he was shot.

"This is not the time or the place to review that video," the police chief said.

Police have said they have not identified a motive for the shooting and fire. But Burton City Council candidate Kris Johns said when he encountered Sanford at his home a week before the incident, Sanford steered the conversation toward the Second Amendment and religion, saying at one point: "Mormons are the Antichrist."

Township Supervisor Scott Bennett said at the news conference that the township, school district and chamber of commerce are sponsoring a Tuesday, 7 p.m. nondenominational, nonpolitical event at the high school’s athletic field for an evening of healing and remembrance.

Later Friday afternoon, Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson's office was holding what it calls a "tactical briefing" for faith-based communities in the wake of last Sunday's attack. Swanson said in a Tuesday video that the event is for all faith-based communities in Genesee County, including churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship.

Metro Detroit faith leaders are encouraging houses of worship to review their security plans after the shooting and fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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