America once again bore witness to another mass shooting yesterday, specifically, at a place of worship.
According to CNN, four people were killed and eight others were injured when 40-year-old suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, allegedly drove his pickup truck adorned with two American flags into the brick wall of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe reported that worshippers initially believed the crash to be an accident and rushed to help Sanford, believing that he might be injured. However, when he emerged from the vehicle, he opened fire on those who were trying to help him using an AR-15-style rifle. Does it get more despicable? Unfortunately, yes, it does. While people were either running for their lives or trying to cover the elderly and young children, a fire began roaring. Police investigating the incident believe that Sanford used gasoline or some unknown accelerant to initiate the blaze.
As Sanford fled the church, he was pursued by officers who gunned him down in the parking lot of the campus. Firefighters spent hours trying to tame the flames and the thick, billowing smoke that poured from the building, and as of Sunday night, authorities were still clearing debris while desperately searching for bodies and missing persons. CNN reports that up to seven people are still unaccounted for. A church member only identified as “Brian” said, “We don’t know the status of them.”
Nowadays, whenever a tragedy like this strikes, political factions rush to point the finger at “the other side” in hopes of capturing some clout from their fanatical bases. No one does this better or more efficiently than Orange Donald, who posted an accusatory innuendo to social media in the wake of the mass shooting. He was promptly fact checked by those with the good sense that God gave them.
Not much is known about the alleged shooter other than the fact that he is from neighboring Burton, Michigan, he served as a Marine from 2004-2008, and was deployed to Iraq from 2007-2008, according to the New York Times. At this time, there is no known motive for why Sanford “allegedly” committed this heinous act. The NYT spoke to numerous people from the community who knew Sanford well, and they all seemed completely blindsided by his vicious act of violence. Former high school classmate Ryan Lopez says he saw Sanford just a few weeks ago at the gym and nothing appeared strange, “He was happy to see me, he just seemed normal.”
Most recently, the Daily Beast reported that Sanford had a Trump flag outside of his home.
Rest in peace to those who lost their lives, and get well soon to the injured. BOSSIP will continue to bring you updates as more information becomes publicly available.
