By Beth LeBlanc, Robert Snell
The Detroit News
GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Investigators on Sunday found four improvised explosive devices at the scene of a Mormon church shooting and fire that claimed the lives of four victims, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The discovery of the explosives, described as “simple in nature,” has led investigators to take a careful approach as they probe the scene of the Mormon church shooting in Grand Blanc Township, said James Deir, special agent in charge of the ATF’s Detroit Field Division. On Sunday, the bureau called in an elite team of investigators, the ATF National Response Team, to help with the investigation.
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“Everything that we’re doing is very, very slow, methodical,” Deir said Monday. “If we see something that looks out of place, we’re going to get the bomb techs involved and get everybody involved. Because it’s not uncommon for folks that are involved in these types of incidents to have secondary devices that are designed to injure law enforcement or injure bystanders.”
Police said Thomas Jacob Sanford, a 40-year-old Burton man, drove his truck into Grand Blanc Township Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4285 McCandlish Road, during a service Sunday morning. He then exited his vehicle and fired several rounds, police said.
Ten individuals were injured, and two of those were announced dead shortly after the Sunday morning shooting. Police later found two additional bodies in the rubble of the church. Responding officers engaged in gunfire with Sanford and shot and killed him.
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Police said Sunday that Sanford was also believed responsible for the fire that engulfed the church.
Based on their initial investigation, Deir said Monday there was gasoline poured at the scene during the attack, and it’s believed to be the main accelerant.
Deir told The Detroit News that authorities also found a total of four improvised explosive devices in the interior compartment of Sanford’s truck. He described the explosives as being “simple in nature” and mostly commercial-grade fireworks that had been taped together.
The discovery of those devices “gave us pause for this entire investigation” and prompted additional caution around the church scene and at other locations that are being searched in relation to the investigation, Deir said.
The explosives found in Sanford’s truck were the only ones found at the church scene. Deir declined to comment when asked whether other explosive devices were found at separate residences searched by law enforcement.
When asked about the decimation the fire caused, Deir noted they were dealing with a church. Similar structures generally have a quick flashpoint, he said, and items such as couches, woodwork and varnish can burn fast.
“It’s going to go up quicker, probably quicker than a home,” Deir said. “I don’t know what was inside the church at the time of the fire. Gasoline does increase the ignition of that fire.”
The ATF National Response Team sent to Michigan on Sunday is part of a broader federal response that includes assistance from as many as 100 FBI agents who responded to the attack at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The team will lead the fire investigation, analyzing, processing and documenting the scene to determine the origin and cause of the fire.
The ATF team includes investigative experts with state-of-the-art equipment who specialize in fire, explosives and bombing investigations.
In a Monday press conference, Deir said the team arrived Sunday night and has begun investigating the fire and explosive devices found at the church.
Deir asked the community not to travel by the church, noting an individual on Monday was arrested when they tried to bypass the barricades surrounding the area.
“We need that scene security for our investigators as they dig out this scene,” he said.
The ATF National Response team has been deployed 19 times this year and 938 times nationwide since 1978. That includes high-profile investigations after the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon, the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing carried out by terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Lapeer native Terry Nichols.
The federal investigators joined a broader law enforcement response that on Sunday included the Michigan State Police bomb squad. The squad deployed a silver 3-foot robot and hauled in heavy equipment to the area near Sanford’s home in Burton.
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