A 77-year-old Navy veteran has been identified as one of the four victims killed by a madman who opened fire at worshippers at a Michigan Latter-day Saints church on Sunday, according to his family.
John Bond was fatally shot by US Marine vet Thomas Sanford after the gunman rammed his Chevy Silverado truck into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, according to a GoFundMe for his family.
Bond was a “loving husband, father, and grandfather,” according to the fundraiser. He had six children and ten grandchildren, Fox2Detroit reported.
Bond was also a veteran who served in the US Navy for nine years, according to his loved ones.
He was “a lover of golf and trains and always loved spending time with his family and grandkids,” the statement said.
Before he died, his wife, Joanne, recounted their last moments together to the outlet, saying Bond told her, “I love you,” while mentioning how he needed his shoes to be shined.
The beloved vet was one of two victims who were fatally shot, while the other two were found dead inside the burnt-out church.
Eight others, including children, were wounded in the chaos, authorities said in an update Sunday.
A Facebook post by Sanford’s mother says the gunman — who died at the scene in a shootout with cops — served in Iraq from 2004 to 2008.
Sanford was killed minutes after the first 911 call came in. Hero cops responded to the scene in only 30 seconds, authorities said.
Thomas Sanford’s father described his son to multiple outlets as a loving father and husband.
“He was an ex-Marine and we are completely in shock over this; we have no answers,” he said in a statement to NBC News.
In a separate interview with the Detroit Free Press, the eldest Sanford said his son was “under fire” one time during his deployment in Iraq, but said “most of the time he was fine.”
“The only thing I can say is that it was my son that did it,” Sanford told the outlet. “As far as why? Irrelevant. It happened. We’re dealing with it. It’s been a nightmare.
Investigators are still searching for a motive, but Sanford may have resented the Mormon church due to a past relationship gone bad.
He previously raged against Mormons to city council candidate, Kris Johns, in his hometown just days before killing worshippers and burning the church to the ground, calling the religion “the antichrist.”
Their otherwise friendly conversation took “a very sharp turn” as they broached the subject of religious faith.
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