‘Absolute heroes’ — Worshippers sprang to save fellow Latter-day Saints after attack on Michigan church

All those in attendance during Sunday’s morning deadly shooting and fire at a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Grand Blanc, Michigan, have been accounted for, law enforcement officials reported in a Monday afternoon news conference that repeatedly emphasized the heroism of the church members.

At that time, five people had been confirmed dead — including the alleged shooter — and two remained in critical condition.

In total, eight patients had been hospitalized at nearby Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, five for gunshot wounds and three for smoke inhalation.

[Latter-day Saint bishop of the Grand Blanc congregation speaks in video.]

The Grand Blanc Township Police Department reported later Monday that three additional shooting victims were being treated at other hospitals.

All eight gunshot victims are, police Chief William Renye said in a news statement, “expected to make full recoveries.”

Renye also put the total number of smoke inhalation victims at two, not three.

In a Monday news release, Dallin H. Oaks, senior apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the tragedy “reminds us of our sacred responsibilities as followers of Jesus Christ.”

Oaks serves as the de facto (and almost certainly future) leader of global faith after the death Saturday night of the church’s 101-year-old president, Russell M. Nelson.

“We mourn with our members who have lost loved ones,” Oaks continued, “and we join in prayer for comfort with others around the world who are suffering from similar tragedies.”

Among those who had been shot, one had died in the emergency department. Another, a child, had been stabilized. A third was shot in the leg. Two others remained in critical condition, although one was “mostly stable,” according to Michael Danic, medical chief of staff for Henry Ford Genesys Hospital, where the victims had been sent for treatment.

Two of the three patients treated for smoke inhalation had been released. One remained intubated.

The ages of patients ranged from 6 to 78. Danic declined to provide the age of the child who had been shot.

He did, however, applaud the efforts of physician residents who were members of the congregation and present for the attack.

“Not only were they victims, they were also first responders,” Danic 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. The community really came together.”

Col. James Grady, head of the Michigan State Police, said the FBI was treating the attack as an act as “targeted violence” and that investigators were “continuing to work to determine a motive.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, the suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, had recently called “Mormons” the “Antichrist” in a conversation with a City Council candidate who had happened upon the alleged shooter/arsonist, a former Marine, while knocking doors.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday morning that the FBI director had informed her that “this was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, however, cautioned the public against speculation.

“Lower the temperature of rhetoric,” Whitmer said. “Keep your loved ones close, keep this community close to your hearts.”

The attack began Sunday around 10:25 a.m., when Sanford allegedly drove a vehicle into the church, started shooting and set the building ablaze.

Renye, the Grand Blanc Township police chief, said at a news conference Sunday that officers arrived at the chapel in less than a minute, and around eight minutes later, the alleged gunman was killed by responding officers. Improvised explosive devices were later recovered at the scene.

In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, one worshipper described racing with others from the building after the truck crashed through the brick wall at the front of the chapel. The individual declined to give her name because local church leadership had encouraged members not to speak to reporters.

From her hiding place in the parking place, she said, she watched the shooter emerge from the smoking building and begin firing. She then witnessed a man in a suit and tie — the woman was too far away to identify the individual — fire back with a handgun, hitting the attacker.

According to police accounts, that person was presumably a law enforcement officer responding to the scene.

In his release Monday, Oaks — speaking “on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” expressed gratitude “to all who are reaching out with service, prayers, and words of support during this difficult time.”