GRAND BLANC, Mich. — A gunman drove his truck into a Michigan church where hundreds were worshiping on Sunday morning, shooting congregants before setting the building on fire, officials said.
At least four people were killed and eight others were injured in the shooting and fire, according to police. The gunman was then killed in a shootout with responding police.
The FBI is now leading the investigation, calling the attack an “act of targeted violence.”
The mass shooting comes amid a rash of violence against churches and other religious institutions and amid a series of politically motivated shootings. It also comes after a mass shooting at a waterfront bar in North Carolina left three people killed late Saturday night.
The shooting on Sunday morning was at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan.
The fire set in the aftermath of the shooting grew to a five-alarm blaze that caused a partial collapse of the structure, according to law enforcement officials. James Deir, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Detroit Field Division, said during a press conference Sunday night that the gunman used gasoline as an accelerant to burn the building.
Officials said that the chapel is a “total loss” as investigators work to comb through the rubble.
Michigan State Police said that after the shooting, they responded to several bomb threats at other locations in the area — some of them churches.
Officials confirmed that of those shot, one victim died at the scene, another later died at the hospital and two more individuals were found dead at the scene due to the fire. Eight others remain hospitalized, seven are in stable condition and one is in critical condition.
