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Sept. 28, 2025, 11:48 PM EDTBy Dennis RomeroThe person accused in a fatal shooting and fire Sunday at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, is a 40-year-old area man with a military background.Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, is from Burton, a city of nearly 30,000 people roughly 6 miles from Grand Blanc Township. Both are suburbs of Flint.Police said the attacker rammed the church with a vehicle, got out and opened fire with an assault rifle. Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said he also used an accelerant to start a fire, which was later contained.Follow live updates here.At least four people were killed in the attack, two of whom were shot, and eight were injured.Officers killed Sanford in a parking lot behind the church, police said.The FBI’s special agent in charge for Michigan, Reuben Coleman, said Sunday night that the bureau is looking for a motive.“The FBI is now leading the investigation and is investigating this as an act of targeted violence,” he said.Thomas Jacob Sanford.HandoutSanford joined the Marine Corps in 2004, according to Marine records, and held the titles of organizational automotive mechanic and vehicle recovery operator.In 2007, he started a nearly seven-month deployment under Operation Iraqi Freedom and left the corps a few months later, the records show.Sanford achieved the rank of sergeant and had his last duty assignment at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before he left the Marines in June 2008, according to the records.He was awarded the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal, the records show.Drone video shows Michigan church on fire after shooting00:18A 2007 article in the Clarkston News, a publication in the village of Clarkston, about 20 miles southeast of Grand Blanc Township, said Sanford graduated in 2003 from Goodrich High School, about 12 miles east of the shooting site.Goodrich Area Schools officials did not immediately respond to a request to confirm Sanford’s attendance and graduation from the high school.At the time, according to the article, Sanford was soon to be deployed to Fallujah, Iraq.“I’m looking forward to seeing the culture and the people of Iraq,” Sanford is quoted as saying. “I’ll return with the real news of the situation.”The article says a grandfather served in the Navy and an uncle served in the Marines, both in World War II. His father, Thomas Sanford, is quoted as saying: “Jake’s going voluntarily and plans on returning to his community when his service is over. We are very proud of him.”Thomas Jacob Sanford appeared to have a young child, according to a review of a Facebook page belonging to a woman believed to be his wife.A voicemail message left for a phone number listed for his parents was not returned. Attempts to reach his wife were unsuccessful.Dennis RomeroDennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.Donna Mendell, Jean Lee, Sheena Jones, Courtney Kube and Mosheh Gains contributed.

- Latest News - September 29, 2025

The person accused in a fatal shooting and fire Sunday at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, is a 40-year-old area man with.

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Sept. 28, 2025, 8:08 PM EDT / Updated Sept. 28, 2025, 8:09 PM EDTBy Andrew GreifThe notion that the New York Giants would switch quarterbacks this season had appeared to be a matter of when, not if, since April. Trading up in the NFL draft to select a quarterback in the first round has a way of starting a clock on such decisions.That change, officially, came in Week 4, and the timing was inauspicious. The Giants, winless and struggling, were hosting the 3-0 Los Angeles Chargers, who had staked their claim to be discussed as a potential Super Bowl contender. In a game in which each team suffered a significant loss, it was Dart who gave the Giants two things they had been lacking most the season. A win, plus some hope.Starting with an opening-drive touchdown capped by a designed run by Dart — the Giants’ first first-quarter touchdown this season — New York beat the Chargers 21-18 in Dart’s first career start. Dart threw for 111 yards and a touchdown but was sacked five times. He also ran for 54 yards. At one point he was evaluated for a concussion but returned to the game. One week after home fans booed starter Russell Wilson as the Giants mustered one touchdown in a loss to Kansas City, Dart drew massive applause for bouncing off tacklers after his quarterback sneak appeared to have been stuffed in the fourth quarter, only for him to stay upright and scramble for a first down.Giants coach Brian Daboll, whose firing some fans had called for after the 0-3 start, pulled Dart in for an embrace at the final whistle. “Happy we got him,” Daboll said.New York may have solved its quarterback issue, but it now has a wide receiver problem after star wideout Malik Nabers left the game with what was reportedly a feared ACL tear in his knee, after it buckled while he was leaping for a second-quarter target. Nabers caught two passes for 20 yards before he left.The Chargers (3-1) could also face a longer-term absence. Offensive lineman Joe Alt, a first-round pick in 2024, was carted off with an ankle injury in the first quarter. The team’s Super Bowl ambitions hinge on the production of quarterback Justin Herbert, but playing behind a patchwork offensive line that already lost one starter, Rashawn Slater, to injury in the preseason — an injury that shifted Alt to left tackle — Herbert had been blitzed 39 times, second-most in the league, through Week 3 and faced the sixth-most pressures. The hits Herbert took Sunday were “very concerning,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said.Alt’s injury also comes on the heels of other injuries that have depleted the team’s depth cart, including running back Najee Harris.Andrew GreifAndrew Greif is a sports reporter for NBC News Digital. 

- Latest News - September 29, 2025

In rookie Jaxson Dart’s first career start, the New York Giants took out a Super Bowl contender. But the victory came with a cost.

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