What we covered here
• All the missing have been accounted for a day after a gunman rammed a truck into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan, began shooting, then set a fire that destroyed the building.
• Four people were killed in the attack. Some of the eight injured were shot, while others suffered from smoke inhalation.
• The gunman, killed by officers within minutes, was identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, who served with the Marines and was an Iraq War veteran. His family is cooperating as the FBI investigates the attack as an act of targeted violence.
• The attack was among 324 mass shootings this year in the US and the latest place of worship – from a Catholic church in Minneapolis to a synagogue in Pittsburgh and a Sikh temple in Wisconsin – devastated by gun violence.
Our live coverage of the Michigan church attack has ended. Get the latest here.
"I saw a person who was calm and collected," politician says of encounter with gunman before shooting
Days before the attack, Kris Johns, a candidate for the city council in Burton, Michigan, said he met the gunman while canvassing.
“The very first thing he asked me was, ‘What do you know about Mormons?’” Johns told CNN’s Laura Coates, describing each question that followed as more “pointed and direct.”
Johns said it was clear that Thomas Sanford had an interaction with the LDS Church, but did not suspect anything violent of him.
Sanford repeated multiple times that Mormons were “the Antichrist”.
Johns said he suspects Sanford’s reasons for the attack were related to a negative interaction with the LDS Church, though a motive has still not been determined by investigators.
Motive is still unknown as authorities continue investigation. Here’s the latest
Authorities are shifting their full attention to uncovering exactly how and why a shooter attacked worshippers at a Michigan church on Sunday.
A mass shooting and devastating fire at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, left four people dead and several others wounded.
Search crews have combed through the rubble of the chapel, and everyone is now accounted for.
Here’s the latest on the investigation:
The victims: Of the eight patients that Henry Ford Genesys Hospital received on Sunday, one died and seven have survived, according to hospital leadership. The eight patients ranged in age from 6 to 78. Five of them suffered gunshot wounds, and three suffered from smoke inhalation, hospital leadership said..
Everyone accounted for: Search efforts for victims among the debris of the chapel are complete, and no additional remains were found today, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told CNN. Earlier Monday, authorities said they believed everyone who was inside at the time of the attack had been accounted for.
Unknown motive: Investigators identified the shooter as Thomas Jacob Sanford. The FBI is investigating reports that the Marine and Iraq War veteran “hated people of Mormon faith,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday. A search of his residence is underway, and authorities are working to obtain search warrants for digital media that may help shed light on a motive, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Explosive devices found: Some suspected explosive devices linked to the incident were found at the scene, officials said. It’s unclear if any explosives were also used to start the fire, authorities said, which they believe the suspect “deliberately” set.
Aerial view shows what is left of the fire-damaged church
An American flag still flies out front, standing over the charred rubble where a once-bustling congregation gathered. Drone footage recorded by The Associated Press on Monday captures what is left of the Grand Blanc, Michigan, church.
The chapel was declared a “total loss,” police said Sunday.
Video Credit: Associated Press
Man wheels 65-pound wooden cross to the scene of Michigan church attack
Dan Beazley arrived on the scene of the Michigan church attack while wheeling in a more than 10-foot long, 65-pound wooden cross. Beazley said he has visited the sites of other mass shootings as well, including Minnesota’s church shooting and NYC after the NFL office shooting.
“I go wherever people’s hearts are hurting the most,” he said.
CNN’s Maria Sole Campinoti contributed to this report.
"It's the little kids that had the biggest feeling of resilience," says sheriff
When small children who survived the Michigan attack entered the family reunification center, they walked in orderly lines – a reflection of their years of training for active shooter situations, according to Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.
“It’s the little kids that had the biggest feeling of resilience, because they’ve been trained for this since they were in elementary school, middle school. They knew what was happening,” Swanson told CNN. “But when you looked in their eyes and how they orderly walked in, they knew exactly what’s happened.”
“It’s a sad but safe reality,” he added.
Shooter's father says "We are beside ourselves"
The father of the man who committed Sunday’s attack on the church in Michigan spoke to CNN affiliate WXYZ, telling the station, “I feel so bad about the families that were affected by this, aside from ours.”
“We’re not the only ones going through this devastation,” Thomas Sanford’s father, Tom, told the outlet. “We are beside ourselves.”
CNN has reached out to the shooter’s father for comment.
The FBI says this was an act of "targeted violence." Here's what that means
The FBI has said it is investigating Sunday’s attack as “an act of targeted violence,” echoing a label the agency has historically applied to a vast range of crimes, including politically-motivated killings, arson, school shootings and hate crimes.
Most recently, it has been used to describe the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a fatal shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas and the killings of a Democratic Minnesota house speaker and her husband.
While these acts may not seem connected, authorities say they have one thing in common: They are premeditated and intended to harm a specific person or group of people.
The Department of Homeland Security has said people who commit targeted violence may choose their victims “based on actual or perceived identity traits or group affiliation.”
The intended target could be singular, such as a political figure or neighbor. It could also involve a category of people, such as children inside a certain school, or a group that shares identity traits, like Muslim worshippers or federal agents.
Let’s break down one example: A Jewish community gathering was targeted in Boulder, Colorado, in June when a man used a makeshift flamethrower and threw Molotov cocktails into the crowd, injuring 12 people. The suspect, who faces federal hate crime charges, had planned the attack for a year and told investigators he “wanted to kill all Zionist people,” according to an affidavit. Jewish and Muslim community leaders condemned the attack.
Search for remains in destroyed LDS church is complete, source says
Authorities have completed their search for victims in the rubble of the Michigan church, and no additional remains were found today, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told CNN.
Earlier Monday, authorities said they believed everyone who was inside at the time of the attack had been accounted for.
While the search for victims is over, authorities continue to scour the rubble for evidence, including clues about what caused the fire that engulfed the church complex, the source said. Officials have said improvised explosive devices were found at the scene, but it is unclear whether they caused the blaze.
A total of four people were killed and eight were injured in the attack, authorities said. A source previously told CNN that children were among the injured.
Medical staff had “traumatic experience” treating loved ones after church attack
The deadly, multifaceted attack was deeply personal for some medical residents who treated victims of the mass shooting and inferno, a hospital official said.
The ordeal was “kind of a traumatic experience,” said Dr. Michael Danic, medical chief of staff at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital.
“We had a number of our (medical) residents who were members of the church and were on site,” Danic said. “Not only were they victims, they were also first responders. And having your friends and family come in injured and taking care of them is a really incredible experience.”
The 8 patients that one hospital received ranged in age 6 to 78, doctor says
Of the eight patients that Henry Ford Genesys Hospital received after Sunday’s attack at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Michigan’s Grand Blanc Township, one died and seven have survived, according to the hospital’s medical chief of staff, Dr. Michael Danic.
Police have said that the attack killed four people and injured eight others.
The eight patients that Henry Ford Genesys Hospital received ranged in age from 6 to 78, Danic said. Five of them suffered gunshot wounds, and three suffered from smoke inhalation, he said.
Of the five Henry Ford Genesys patients with gunshot wounds, one died, Danic said. One of the others was in critical condition Monday with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, while another also was in critical condition after suffering gunshot wounds to the abdomen, according to Danic. Another man was shot in the leg. And a child who was shot was stabilized at the hospital before being transferred, Danic said.
Among the three brought to Henry Ford Genesys for smoke inhalation, two have since been discharged, but one was still intubated Monday, Danic said.
Doctor praises the “heroes” who went “in and out of the fire to drag people out”
The mass shooting and fire could have been deadlier if not for the bravery of those who risked their lives to save others, a local hospital official said.
“Those on the scene were absolute heroes – going in and out of the fire to drag people out, helping each other take care of the victims on the scene,” said Dr. Michael Danic, medical chief of staff at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital.
“The community really came together,” he said
The good Samaritans included hospital nurses on strike who left the picket line and ran to the church to try to help.
The hospital received eight patients from the attack, ranging from 6 to 78 years old.
Five of those patients suffered gunshot wounds, and one of those patients has died, Danic said. The other three patients suffered smoke inhalation.
A "world-renowned" ATF rapid response team arrived on the scene last night
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has brought in one of its “world-renowned” specialized rapid response teams to investigate the church shooting and fire, officials said in a news conference Monday.
The group, one of several National Response Teams maintained by the ATF, investigates large fires, explosions and bombings across the nation. These teams can include explosives specialists, bomb technicians, forensic chemists and canine handlers.
“They have been used all over the world, and they come from places as far as California, Hawaii, and they’re here in Michigan now,” ATF acting special agent in charge James Deir said.
The team arrived Sunday night and is examining the scene, he added.
National Response Teams have aided in some of the nation’s most high-profile crisis investigations, including the 9/11 World Trade Center attack and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
Township police chief decries "evil act" of violence against community
Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye described the church attack as an “evil act” but said the township would move forward.
“This is not Grand Blanc. This does not define Grand Blanc and who we are,” Renye said during a news conference. “We are a community, and I am confident that together we’re going to build a stronger community due to this incident.”
Explosive devices were found at the scene, but the motive remains unknown, officials say
Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, were found at the scene of the attack, according to James Deir, acting special agent in charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Michigan.
A bomb squad was assessing a suspicious item found on church property that was believed to be a possible IED, according to a source familiar with the incident, CNN has reported.
“The FBI is investigating this as an act of targeted violence, and we are continuing to work to determine a motive,” said FBI acting special agent in charge Reuben Coleman.
Investigators are working around the clock to follow up on leads, including public tips, Coleman said.
“Our special agents, victim specialists, child advocates, forensic interviewers and local partners have interviewed over 100 victims and witnesses to date, and are continuing to interview individuals as we speak,” he added.
Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled the first name of FBI acting special agent in charge Reuben Coleman.
Everyone accounted for after LDS church attack, police chief says
Everyone has been accounted for following Sunday morning’s mass shooting at a Michigan church, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said Monday.
The attack killed four people and injured eight others, Renye said. The attacker also is dead, having been killed in a shootout with police, authorities have said.
Gun violence is a "familiar pain” in schools and places of worship, governor says
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said her “heart is breaking by another mass shooting in a place that is supposed to be defined by togetherness.”
“We’ve seen gun violence in our schools, stores, parades, festivals and our houses of worship. These are places that we go to feel connected, to feel safe, to be together,” the governor said Monday during an update on Sunday’s attack at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township.
“But today, this place has been shattered by bullets and broken glass. And this might be a familiar pain, but it hurts all the same every time.”
The Democratic governor ordered flags lowered statewide.
Whitmer also said she spoke with President Donald Trump, who shared his condolences Sunday.
Happening now: Authorities give updates on Michigan LDS church attack
Authorities are holding a news conference at the Grand Blanc Township Police Department to provide an update on the investigation into Sunday’s shooting at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel that left four people dead.
Federal and local agencies will provide updates, authorities said.
Gunman riddles car with bullets as it flees during LDS church attack
Photos taken by CNN show a car parked across the street and down the road from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that was struck by gunfire. The driver’s side and windshield were pierced by bullets.
Brian Taylor told WJBK he was inside his vehicle with his wife, trying to drive away, when the shooter opened fire on them. Taylor’s right hand was cut after a bullet struck his windshield.
Taylor said that after a truck rammed into the church and he realized it was an intentional attack, he began getting people out of the area.
After finding his wife, he went to his car and called his son, who was also at the church, and learned his son was in another vehicle. He added that he helped some elderly women from the church into his car to help them escape.
“As soon as I saw the door open with the shooter with his rifle, that’s when I tried to drive away and that’s when he shot at us,” he told WJBK.
Watch: LDS member says seeing remnants of church feels like a “lifetime of memories is just gone”
A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints described seeing the church Monday morning, saying it feels like a “lifetime of memories is just gone.”
Brandt Malone has been been going to the LDS church in Grand Blanc Township for many years, he told CNN.
Malone said his wife and daughter had been at the church on Saturday night – the night before the shooting and fire – for a youth activity.
“The hardest thing for our community right now is feeling like that security blanket has been ripped away,” Malone said.
