The former Marine accused of killing four people in a fiery attack on a Michigan church held a deep grudge against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to two lifelong friends and other people who knew him.
The animosity, the friends said, stemmed from a breakup with a religious girlfriend over a decade ago and led the man to rant about the church at his best friend’s wedding, refer to it as the Antichrist and, just days before the attack, spew invective against Mormons to a canvassing politician.
The attacker, identified by the authorities as Thomas Jacob Sanford, crashed a four-door pickup truck displaying two American flags into the church building in Grand Blanc Township near Flint, Mich., during a worship service on Sunday morning, and then opened fire with an assault-style weapon. A blaze later consumed the church.
Victims as young as 6 were ripped by gunshots. Mr. Sanford, 40, was shot dead by the police.
Peter Tersigni, who lives in Michigan, said he had known Mr. Sanford since preschool and called him his best friend. A four-year stint in the Marine Corps, including time in Iraq, changed his friend from the former class clown into a more serious person, Mr. Tersigni said.
But his time living in Utah and heavy use of methamphetamine appeared to change him more. There, he fell in love with a woman who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the relationship ended painfully, his friend said.
“Mentally he was in rough shape” when he returned to Michigan, Mr. Tersigni said.
From then on, Mr. Sanford had a problem with members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and wasn’t shy about sharing it, Mr. Tersigni and his twin brother, Francis Tersigni, recounted in separate interviews on Monday.
“He got this whole fascination with Mormons, and they are the Antichrist, and they are going to take over the world,” Francis Tersigni said. It even came up at Peter Tersigni’s wedding, his brother recalled. “All he could talk about was Mormons,” he said. “I was like, dude, nobody wants to hear about this stuff.”
Sandra Winter, 56, rented a room to Mr. Sanford in Jeremy Ranch, Utah, and also recalled that he had fallen in love with a woman who was an “extremely religious” member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and felt pressured to join.
“He wasn’t so sure that he wanted to become a member of the church,” Ms. Winter said. “But he really wanted to be with this woman.”
As recently as last week, Kris Johns, a candidate for the City Council in Burton, Mich., knocked on Mr. Sanford’s door while canvassing and, within a few minutes, found himself listening to a diatribe about Mr. Sanford’s ex-girlfriend, the church and its demands that he remove his tattoos to become a member.
Mr. Johns remembers Mr. Sanford saying repeatedly, “Mormons are the Antichrist.” He described Mr. Sanford as calm, not making any specific threats, but “under the surface, extremely angry.”
The authorities said on Monday that they were still investigating what they described as a “targeted act of violence” on Sunday morning. They did not ascribe a motive to the attack, but the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Fox News, “This was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith.”
She added that investigators were “trying to understand more about this, how premeditated it was, how much planning went into it, whether he left a note.” The attacker’s family was cooperating with investigators, she said.
Two people died of gunshot wounds in the attack, the authorities said, and the bodies of two more people were found later in the wreckage of the burned-out building. It was not immediately clear how they died.
Dr. Michael Danic, medical chief of staff at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, praised the actions of parishioners for saving untold lives. “Those on the scene were absolute heroes,” he said, “going in and out of the fire to drag people out, helping each other to take care of the victims.”
Joanne Bond said her husband, John Bond, a 76-year-old U.S. Navy veteran and software salesman, was one of the congregants hit by gunfire and taken to the emergency room, along with eight other people. She first heard about the attack in a text message from another member of her husband’s church. (Ms. Bond belongs to a different denomination.)
Ms. Bond rushed to Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, she said, but wasn’t able to see or speak to her husband before he died on the operating table.
Another injured victim, Ben Phelps, was shot in the abdomen, according to his mother, Beckie Swainston. She said Mr. Phelps’s 6-year-old son, the youngest victim, was shot in the arm, and has been released from the hospital.
After recent incidents of political violence, including the fatal shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk and the deadly sniper attack on an immigration facility in Dallas, public speculation has swirled around Mr. Sanford’s political views. Friends said Mr. Sanford was a right-wing Republican, but law enforcement officials and people who knew him said they saw no indication that the attack was politically motivated.
“This isn’t a MAGA event,” said Francis Tersigni, who also considered Mr. Sanford a close friend. “This isn’t political.”
Like many others, Mr. Tersigni said he was baffled by the attack.
In some ways, Mr. Sanford seemed to have moved on from his heartbreak in Utah. He was married and was working in his family’s fireplace business. He was caring for his child, who had a rare genetic disease, according to a local news report.
Neighbors say they knew Mr. Sanford as an avid outdoorsman who loved ice-fishing and deer hunting, and who would plow their driveways in the winter for free.
Investigators on Monday continued to comb through the wreckage of the scorched church, collecting evidence, while others looked through homes, computers and social media accounts associated with Mr. Sanford, seeking more clues about his motives and planning.
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.
No more victims are expected to be found in the charred remains. Everyone who was in the church at the time of the attack has been accounted for, the authorities said.
Peter Tersigni said the last time he had communicated with Mr. Sanford was by text on Sept. 18. Mr. Sanford asked Mr. Tersigni if he would help him build a deck.
He has trouble believing that his friend could have been a danger to anyone. “I can’t see him pulling the trigger and shooting people,” he said. “I’m in disbelief.”
Reporting was contributed by Charlotte Dulany, Jacey Fortin, Talya Minsberg, Christina Morales, Sonia A. Rao and Pooja Salhotra.
Tim Arango is a correspondent covering national news. He is based in Los Angeles.
Anushka Patil is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news around the world.
Thomas Fuller, a Page One Correspondent for The Times, writes and rewrites stories for the front page.
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