Chilling details have emerged regarding the events leading up to the violent attack on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township. A series of 911 calls believed to have been made by the gunman, Thomas Jacob Sanford, was released by the Grand Blanc Township Police Department on Tuesday, shedding light on his actions before the September 28, 2025, massacre that resulted in four dead and several injured. The Detroit Free Press first reported on these documents, which include an audio recording and 71 pages of police reports.
According to the recording, minutes before his attack, Sanford's voice is heard over the line, threatening bomb placements at three different houses of worship. "I want to report a bomb at a Mormon temple," Sanford stated, focusing on the significance of the threat. In actual conversation believed to be Sanford, as the exhaust of a vehicle was heard in the background, he demanded the dispatcher's attention, "No, no, no … Listen to me, listen, I am going to talk and now you are going to listen … I am going to hang up the phone," as reported by The Detroit Free Press.
The call's transcript came as part of a Freedom of Information Act request. Remarkably, Sanford did not mention his actual target, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, in these threats. The CBS Detroit coverage of the incident revealed Sanford's final words on the call: "No, listen to me... I'm going to talk, and you are going to listen to me, then I'm going to hang up."
About the attack, the WNEM account places Sanford just under a mile from the church when he made his threatening call at 10:21 a.m. Witnesses reported hearing sounds mistaken initially for a bomb, notably "loud pop" and "bang," which signaled the horrifying start of the assault, WNEM detailed. As Sanford rammed his truck into the church, one witness felt their dress soaked with blood as they made a fateful escape and fainted beside a vehicle. Police officers arrived at a scene of chaos, with smoke billowing from the church, and helped eight people to escape through a window blocked by a piano. The officer heard more explosions within the building, likely ammunition catching in the spreading fire.
Sanford was subsequently shot and killed by police within four minutes of the initial 911 call. The FBI later affirmed the attack was driven by Sanford's anti-religious sentiments, specifically directed towards the Mormon faith.
