Investigators on Monday were digging into the life of the man who killed four people in suburban Michigan over the weekend, as well as the fiery remains of the church that he attacked in the middle of a Sunday morning worship service.
The motive for the attack on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meeting house in Grand Blanc Township remained unclear. But it was being classified as an “act of targeted violence,” not terrorism, until the investigation has been completed, said Reuben Coleman, the acting special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Detroit field office.
But the White House press secretary said the attacker appeared to harbor religious hatred. “Based on my conversations with the F.B.I. director, all they know right now is, this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith,” said Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, in a morning appearance on Fox News.
“They are trying to understand more about this, how premeditated it was, how much planning went into it, whether he left a note,” she added. The man’s family was cooperating with investigators, Ms. Leavitt said.
The authorities identified the attacker as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, Mich.
He went to high school nearby and served in the Marine Corps. Chief William Renye of the Grand Blanc Township Police Department said Mr. Sanford had previously been arrested and charged with burglary and driving while intoxicated.
The attack shattered a Sunday morning worship service in Grand Blanc, a suburb of about 8,000 people near Flint. The attacker crashed a four-door pickup truck flying two American flags into the church building and then began shooting, the police said. A fire then consumed the church.
Two people died of gunshot wounds, the authorities said, and the bodies of two more people were found later in the wreckage of the building. The gunman died in an exchange of gunfire with the police, the authorities said.
Eight injured people, ranging in age from 6 to 78, were rushed to the emergency room after the attack, according to Dr. Michael Danic of Henry Ford Genesys Hospital. Five had gunshot wounds, and three were treated for smoke inhalation, he said.
One of the patients died at the hospital, he said, and two remained in critical condition on Monday afternoon.
Chief Renye described the attack as an “evil act of violence.”
Investigators continued to comb through the wreckage of the church on Monday. James Deir, the special agent in charge with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the agency was examining “improvised explosive devices” that were recovered after the attack.
Everyone who was in the church at the time of the account has been accounted for, the authorities said.
Neighbors of Mr. Sanford said they were shocked that he had been named as the attacker, and described him as a friendly person who would plow their driveways in winter for free.
In an article from a decade ago, The Lake Orion Review, a local newspaper, reported on several medical problems facing Mr. Sanford’s son, Brantlee, who was a newborn at the time. Doctors removed a large part of the child’s pancreas.
Mr. Sanford was described as a truck driver for Coca-Cola in the article.
Reporting was contributed by Jacey Fortin, Talya Minsberg, Anushka Patil and Sonia A. Rao.
Thomas Fuller, a Page One Correspondent for The Times, writes and rewrites stories for the front page.
Christina Morales is a Times reporter covering Latino communities in the United States.
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