Michigan LDS church attacker called in bomb threats before rampage, 911 call shows

Max Bryan, The Detroit News on Jan 21, 2026

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DETROIT — The gunman who attacked a Church of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township in September tried to divert law enforcement away from his target beforehand, a newly released 911 call shows.

Thomas "Jake" Sanford on the morning of Sept. 28, 2025, drove his truck into the church on McCandlish Road and opened fire on the congregation, according to police. Four people were killed, and the building was destroyed in a fire.

At 10:21 a.m. that day — about four minutes before the attack — Sanford called 911 and said there were bomb threats at three religious congregations in the region. Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye identified the caller as Sanford. He listed Holy Family Catholic Church in Grand Blanc and River Church in Goodrich. He also said there was a bomb at a Mormon temple in Birmingham.

When the dispatcher tried to talk to Sanford on the call, he interrupted her.

“No, no, no, no, no, listen to me — listen. I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen, and I’m going to hang up the phone," Sanford said.

ABC News first reported on the contents of the call.

Renye called Sanford's call "a ploy to divert law enforcement resources" away from the location of the attack.

The Grand Blanc Township police chief said Sanford's call did not hinder their response to the attack, however.

“Those threats, they were not in the Grand Blanc Township jurisdiction, so that did not hinder our response," Renye said.

Renye also said the dispatch staff was able to confirm the threats were bogus, but did not disclose how they did so.

Sanford's attack on the church was a "targeted act of violence believed to be motivated by the assailant's anti-religious beliefs against the Mormon religious community," according to a video statement from the FBI's Detroit office in late October. Multiple witnesses said Sanford returned to Michigan from his time in Utah, which has a significant Mormon population, with vitriol for the religion.

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