Officers involved in Michigan Latter-day Saint church shooting will not face charges

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Two officers won't face charges for shooting Thomas Sanford in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
Sanford opened fire at a Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in the town on Sept. 28, killing four people.
Prosecutor David Leyton deemed officers' actions as lawful self-defense during the incident.

SALT LAKE CITY — The two officers who responded to the Grand Blanc, Michigan, shooting at a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last September will not face charges for gunning down Thomas Sanford.

On Sept. 28, 2025, Sanford opened fire on church members and then set the building on fire. Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton found that the two officers were within their rights "to use deadly force in lawful self-defense or defense of others pursuant," according to the memorandum Leyton signed on Wednesday.

Evidence of the shooting that left four dead, ages 6 to 78, portrayed in the memorandum shows that Sanford's actions were premeditated.

Before Sanford went to the Latter-day Saint church, he went to a gas station and filled a "5-gallon gas can," then proceeded to call and make bomb threat calls to multiple locations, not including the church, according to the memorandum.

He then went to the church, drove his pickup truck through the front of the meetinghouse during services, and opened fire with at least one AK47 assault rifle he possessed. He then went back to his truck and grabbed the gasoline, returned to the building, shot more victims, and poured the liquid accelerant throughout the meetinghouse, all before the two law enforcement officers arrived.

Sanford was ordered by law enforcement to drop his weapons and get on the ground multiple times but ignored the commands. At one point, he put his rifle above his head "in a manner that Sanford believed would allow him to continue shooting if desired," walked toward the officers and a civilian who was also armed and said, "Shoot me," per the memorandum.

As he walked closer, he put his firearm in a 45-degree angle position that "endangered" the officers and the civilian. Fearing for his life and the other officer and individual, one of the officers shot Sanford, "who was hit and went down to the ground, dropping the AK47 assault rifle," the memorandum said.

The other officer then fired at Sanford again. Soon after, he was approached, and no pulse was discovered.

After examining video footage from surrounding buildings and listening to multiple eyewitness accounts, the Genesee County Prosecutor's Office determined that the officers' statements were consistent with the other accounts.

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