Crime
Death toll from Grand Blanc Mormon Church shooting rises to five including suspect Thomas Jacob Sanford
Grand Blanc Township, Michigan – Authorities confirmed late Sunday that five people, including the suspected gunman, are dead following a mass shooting and fire at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township.
At least eight others sustained injuries.
The suspected gunman has been identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, Michigan.
Police say Sanford drove his pickup truck into the front of the church during morning services before opening fire with an assault rifle on congregants and their families.
At some point during the attack, Sanford used gasoline to set the building on fire.
He was later killed in an exchange of gunfire with law enforcement.
Hundreds of worshippers, including children, were inside the church when the violence unfolded.
Authorities believe additional victims may still be located inside the burned-out structure, which has been declared a total loss.
Crews with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Unit were dispatched to assist with recovery efforts.
According to a Marine Corps spokesperson, Sanford served on active duty from 2004 to 2008, reaching the rank of sergeant. He worked as a mechanic and vehicle recovery operator and was deployed to Iraq in 2007 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Military records indicate he received several medals for his service.
Sanford graduated from Goodrich High School in 2004 and was recognized among veteran alumni.
Local news archives from 2007 reported that he was deployed to Japan prior to his Iraq service.
Social media accounts linked to Sanford’s family portray him as a husband and father to a young son.
A GoFundMe campaign in 2015 revealed the family had struggled with medical expenses related to their son’s rare genetic condition, Congenital Hyperinsulinism (CHI), which required multiple surgeries and extended hospital stays.
At the time, Sanford spoke publicly about the challenges of balancing military service, family life, and medical hardship.
Posts from family members’ social media also highlight Sanford’s passion for the outdoors, particularly hunting.
Five confirmed dead, including Sanford.
At least eight additional victims, several hospitalized.
Sanford rammed a pickup truck through the front of the church, opened fire with an assault rifle, and set the building ablaze using gasoline.
Officers engaged Sanford in gunfire, fatally wounding him.
Authorities initially discovered potential explosive devices near the church, prompting the involvement of a bomb squad. Scanner traffic also indicated suspicious beeping noises coming from Sanford’s truck.
Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye confirmed Sanford acted alone. “We believe we have the individual responsible in custody—he was neutralized during the incident,” Renye said.
The Grand Blanc tragedy occurred less than 24 hours after another mass shooting allegedly carried out by an Iraq War veteran. In Southport, North Carolina, authorities say 38-year-old Nigel Edge, a decorated Marine and Purple Heart recipient, opened fire at a waterfront bar, killing three people and injuring eight more.
The incidents, both involving Iraq War veterans within a single day, have raised questions for investigators about common threads, though officials caution it is too early to determine whether the two events are connected in any way.
By Sunday evening, nearly 12 hours after the first emergency calls, fire crews were still working to contain flare-ups at the destroyed chapel. The church website has since marked the meetinghouse as “closed.”
The ATF Detroit Field Division confirmed Sanford used accelerants to ignite the fire, while investigators continue to search through the debris for additional victims and evidence.
Authorities say identifying a clear motive remains a priority, but for now, the focus remains on recovery and support for the families of the victims.
Crime
MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro Shooting Suspect Identified as 48-Year-Old Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente
Authorities have identified the suspect connected to both the Brown University mass shooting in Rhode Island and the fatal shooting of MIT professor Dr. Nuno F. G. Loureiro in Massachusetts as Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, according to law enforcement sources.
Investigators say Neves-Valente was found deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside an Extra Space Storage facility in Salem, New Hampshire, effectively ending a multistate manhunt.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that Neves-Valente was not a U.S. citizen, but a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
His last known address was in Miami, Florida. Police have stated that he took his own life, and the manner of death is being investigated in coordination with the medical examiner.
Sources familiar with the investigation say Neves-Valente had a storage unit registered in his name at the Salem facility, the same location where an abandoned vehicle linked to the case was previously discovered.
Surveillance video reportedly shows him entering the storage complex; however, investigators initially could not confirm whether he exited prior to being found deceased. Authorities have said agents had not entered the unit earlier in the operation as the scene remained part of an active investigation.
Investigators also revealed that the suspect used multiple sets of license plates on the same vehicle, a tactic authorities believe was intended to evade detection.
A witness-provided license plate in the Brown University shooting led investigators to trace the vehicle’s ownership and usage history, which ultimately connected it to the Brookline, Massachusetts homicide of Dr. Loureiro.
The vehicle was later located in Salem after a license plate reader flagged one of the associated plates, prompting a significant law enforcement response involving federal, state, and local agencies near the Salem, New Hampshire–Methuen, Massachusetts border.
During the search, Methuen police issued public alerts asking residents to report individuals who appeared out of place or were behaving suspiciously, while emphasizing that there was no ongoing threat to the general public.
Officials noted that the suspect appeared to have employed deliberate countermeasures, including changing plates across jurisdictions and attempting to avoid surveillance cameras and facial recognition systems.
Law enforcement sources further stated that Neves-Valente was originally from Portugal, the same country as Dr. Loureiro. Investigators are examining whether there is any significance to that shared background.
It is believed, though not yet publicly confirmed by authorities, that both men may have attended the same school in Lisbon earlier in their lives.
Additionally, Brown University officials have confirmed that Neves-Valente was previously a Brown student, attending the university from 2000 to 2001.
Records indicate he was enrolled exclusively in physics courses during that time.
The university believes he may have had classes in the same building where the shooting later occurred, though officials have stressed that this information is part of a broader factual review and not indicative of motive.
The Brown University shooting occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on Saturday, when a masked gunman dressed in black entered a lecture hall in the Barus and Holley Science Building and opened fire on students attending a final exam review session.
Two students were killed—MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, 18, of Virginia, and Ella Cook, 19, a sophomore from Alabama. Nine others were wounded, with six remaining hospitalized in stable condition at the time of the last update.
The attack triggered a massive response involving approximately 400 law enforcement officers, who conducted extensive searches of campus buildings and surrounding neighborhoods.
Although a 24-year-old man was briefly detained as a person of interest, forensic testing later cleared him, and he was released.
Separately, authorities in Brookline, Massachusetts, responded Monday night to the home of Dr. Loureiro, an MIT professor, who had been shot and later died from his injuries early Tuesday morning.
While officials initially stated there appeared to be no connection between the two cases, subsequent investigation revealed that both incidents were linked to the same suspect and vehicle.
The FBI, along with state and local agencies, continues to review evidence, digital records, and the suspect’s movements in the days leading up to both attacks.
Officials have emphasized that while the suspect is deceased, the investigation remains active as authorities work to establish motive, timeline, and any additional relevant connections.