PTSD cited for suspect in church attack that left at least 4 dead
Authorities continue searching through charred wreckage of burned out building
Post traumatic stress disorder is being cited as a possible contributing factor for a now-dead suspect who is accused of ramming his truck into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building in Michigan, shooting at congregants and setting the structure of fire.
At least four people were killed and another eight injured, according to reports.
It was Fox News that noted adults responded by protecting children in the facility during the attack.
“I’d also like to acknowledge the heroism of not only the first responders, but the people who were inside that church at the time,” Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said of the attack.
“They were shielding the children who are also present within the church, moving them to safety.”
The suspect, identified as Thomas “Jake” Jacob Sanford, 40, was shot and killed in the parking lot of the Grand Blanc facility.
The Daily Mail confirmed a family friend explained that the suspect, a military veteran, had battled the after-effects of trauma.
“It’s hard to feel sad for someone who did something so terrible, and I still feel sad. I had heard through family events that he had had PTSD,” the friend reported. “He would make comments occasionally and it was something that was kind of talked about. It wasn’t talked about in depth… so I don’t know the depth of his issues.”
The report also described the family as “conservative, Christian” and said the suspect also was diagnosed with Congenital Hyperinsulinism.
Images appeared online purporting to show the suspect wearing Trump shirts.
And commenters cited the social media statements from family members of the suspect.
For example, they claimed his mother posted, about the late Charlie Kirk, “When things like this happen, it only emboldens the sons and daughters of God to move quicker, jump higher and speak our light into the darkest places of the world and into the hearts of young hijacked minds.”
The suspect had deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom from August 2007 to March 2008. He reached the rank of sergeant and had earned a number of military meals and ribbons.
He allegedly rammed his truck into the building, came out firing a gun at victims and then used an “accelerant,” probably gasoline, to ignite the building.
FBI spokesman Reuben Coleman said it was “an act of targeted violence.”
One spokesman for law enforcement also noted, “I will confirm that there were some suspected explosive devices that were located, but as far as using them to initiate the blaze, we can’t say that.”
The suspect had been confronted in the parking lot by two responding officers, who exchanged gunfire with him, killing him.
