Tragic Michigan Church Shooting and Arson: Four Lives Lost

Investigators are searching for a motive after a gunman opened fire at a Mormon church in Michigan and set the building on fire, killing four people.

Officials said the attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, a town 60 miles (100km) northwest of Detroit, happened during a Sunday service attended by hundreds of people.

They have named the suspect, Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, from Burton, Michigan, who was killed by police soon after the shooting.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, officials said the incident was a targeted act of violence, but said they had not yet ascertained Sanford's motive.

Officials have not named the four people who were killed in the shooting, or the eight others who were injured, including one who was in critical condition.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer urged residents not to speculate about the motive as officials conducted their investigation.

Speculation is unhelpful and can be downright dangerous, so I just ask that people lower the temperature of the rhetoric, she said.

The shooting began at around 10:30 EST on Sunday, when a gunman crashed his vehicle into the building and then began shooting at congregants.

One man told CBS News that he and others went outside the church after hearing a loud boom of the vehicle crash, before seeing the suspect begin to fire a weapon at the building.

It was just so unexpected, said congregant Paul Kirby. Once I saw the gun and start hearing him start shooting it, it was just a lot of fear.

Soon after, the shooter set the church ablaze using gasoline or another accelerant, officials said. They also found the suspect's makeshift explosive devices.

Less than 10 minutes after the shooting, the gunman died in a shootout with police, officials said.

Investigators said on Monday that they had interviewed over 100 victims and witnesses as a part of the investigation.

Though officials have not given a motive, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted that Sanford was an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith.

The suspect was a former Marine, previously deployed to Iraq with a history of arrests for burglary and operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

An investigation into his political beliefs shows a potential connection to pro-Trump sentiments. He is also noted to be a father of a son with severe health issues.

As the community mourns, authorities stress the importance of understanding the larger implications of this tragic event.