Grand Blanc church shooter: Attacker's home searched by ATF, police

ATF advises public to avoid Grand Blanc LDS church as investigation continues

The ATG agent in charge says the public is urged to avoid the scene of the mass shooting, and intentionally set fire.

GRAND BLANC TWP, Mich. (FOX 2) - Officials have finished searching the home of the shooter at the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, 24 hours after the man attacked the church.

We got our first look at the Burton home of Thomas ‘Jake’ Sanford on Monday, one day after he attacked the church in Grand Blanc Twp, about 20 minutes away.

Throughout the day on Sunday, officials were outside the home on Atherton Road with armored vehicles as they arrived to search the home. As police arrived at his home on Monday, the road was closed as law enforcement from the county, state, and federal officials executed search warrants.

Monday morning, the road was reopened and activity at the home had ended. A FOX 2 news crew at the home said there were no police officers present but there were a few teenager in the backyard doing some cleanup. There were also a few people in the front doing the same.

What happened at the Grand Blanc Church of Latter-Day Saints?

Police said Sanford drove his pickup truck, with two American flags standing up in the tailgate, into the church before getting out with a long gun and opening fire on the church-goers.

A Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officer arrived just 90 seconds later and killed Sanford. But in those 90 seconds, Sanford had shot multiple people and set the church on fire, in a smoke plume that billowed dark black smoke into the sky for hours.

Ultimately, four people were killed by Sanford and eight others are still in the hospital.

Who was the Grand Blanc Twp church shooter?

Police confirmed on Monday that Sanford was known to police and had been arrested before for burglary and OWI.

Sanford was a Marine veteran who spent time in Iraq. He was also married and had a son.

Grand Blanc Twp Police Chief William Renye said the suspect was killed in a shootout in the parking lot with responding officers, and it’s believed the suspect acted alone with an assault rifle. Renye said the suspect first rammed his vehicle through the front doors of the church, got out and began shooting at the parishioners before "deliberately" starting a fire. 

A possible motive still remains unknown but police have searched the home and property extensively and executed multiple search warrants throughout the day on Sunday.

Who is searching the home?

What we know:

The Grand Blanc Township Police, Genesseee County Sheriff, Michigan State Police, the FBI, and the ATF are all investigating and searching the home and property of Sanford.

During a press event on Monday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said officers had spent 24 hours chasing down every lead about what led to the church attack and how it could have been prevented.

The ATF's National Response Team (NRT) has been deployed to investigate. The NRT is an elite response team made up of highly-trained experts.

"The team, which can deploy anywhere in the United States within 24 hours of notification, is made up of special agents, certified fire investigators, fire protection engineers, chemists, explosives enforcement officers, certified explosives specialists, bomb technicians and other specialists.Team members, who are deploying from all over the country," the ATF said in a statement.

The team's job will be to lead the investigation into the fire and will analyze, process, and document the fire scene, while also determining the origin and cause of the fire.

"On Sunday, a place of worship — a sanctuary meant for peace, prayer, and community — was shattered by violence," said ATF Detroit Field Division Special Agent in Charge James Deir. "ATF is here with every resource we have to uncover the truth about this horrific attack and help our community find a path forward."

What we don't know:

Authorities have not released information about what was found in any of the searches.

A motive of what led to the attack is still unknown.