Thomas Jacob Sanford, Burton, Michigan man & ex military veteran id as Grand Blanc Mormon church gunman who shot dead [PHOTOS]

A former US Marine has been identified as the shooter who murdered at least two people and injured nine others at a Michigan Latter-day Saints church in Grand Blanc late Sunday morning.

According to his mother's Facebook page, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, Michigan, rammed his Chevy Silverado truck into the building before exiting and firing at congregants at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, using a semi-automatic rifle.

According to the shooter's mother, Sanford served in Iraq from 2004 to 2008.

Law enforcement sources have since confirmed Thomas Sanford as the suspect the nypost reported.

The source of the blaze was not immediately known, with investigators finding several improvised explosive devices on church property which a bomb squad was investigating.

 

Cops said there were hundreds of worshippers inside when the attack began, with authorities now fearing an unknown number of victims would be found inside once the building is safe to enter after a massive blaze enveloping the church.

Social media pages linked to Sanford reveal the alleged shooter as a family man with a wife and a small son.

A dormant GoFundMe campaign from 2015 generated more than $3,000 for the couple's now-10-year-old son, who was born with congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI), a rare genetic disorder in which the pancreas produces excessive insulin.

Pictures on the Sanfords' Facebook page show the family smiling while posing in the beds of pickup trucks or in a field of towering sunflowers.

 

Officials have yet to reveal what prompted the gunman.

This is at least the second shooting in a Michigan church since June. On June 22, a gunman opened fire on people outside the CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne.

The shooting came the day after the death of the 101-year-old Mormon leader Russell Nelson.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is informally known as the Mormons. Grand Blanc, a town of 7,700 people, is a suburb of Flint and is located about 100km (60 miles) northwest of Detroit.