Michigan church attacker is said to have held a grudge against Latter-day Saints

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 Latter-day Saints to a canvassing politician.

The attacker, identified by 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, Michigan, during a worship service 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. Sanford, 40, was shot dead by the police.

Authorities said Monday that they were still investigating what they described as a “targeted act of violence” Sunday morning.

Two people died of gunshot wounds in the attack, 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.”

Investigators continued to comb through the wreckage of the scorched church Monday, collecting evidence, while others looked through homes, computers and social media accounts associated with 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, authorities said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.