At least four people have been killed and several others injured in an attack on a Mormon church in the US city of Grand Blanc, Michigan.
According to police, the attack occurred around 10:25am local time during a Sunday morning service that drew hundreds of worshippers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located 100 kilometres northwest of Detroit.
An armed man in a car rammed the doors of the church and opened fire. He subsequently set the building on fire.
Police identified the attacker as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, a former Marine from the city of Burton.
It was initially reported that two people were killed by the attacker’s bullets; two more bodies were later found in the burned-out church building. Authorities warn: debris is falling on Christians in the United States.
Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer also condemned the crime, saying, “Violence is unacceptable anywhere, much less in a place of prayer.”