BY THEIR ACTS

Mormons Donate More than $250K to Church Shooter’s Family

The fundraiser was initiated by a member of the LDS Church.

The family of a gunman who killed four Mormons at church in Michigan, will receive an extraordinary donation from other Mormons. Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, opened fire inside the Church of the Latter Day Saints in Grand Blanc, MI, last Sunday as about 100 people worshipped. He then burned the building down and died in an exchange of fire with law enforcement. Sanford, a Marine combat veteran, had become obsessed with hatred of Mormons after a relationship with a member of the church failed. But in a display of extraordinary generosity, David Butler, an LDS member set up a GiveSendGo page and asked for donations, saying, “One of the families that suffered a terrible loss on that day was the family of Thomas Jacob Sanford, the shooter. Sanford leaves behind a wife and children who must be grieving.” He specified that Sanford left behind a son who suffers from medical challenges, for whom the family tried to raise funds in the past with limited success. So far $293,707 has been raised. “It took my breath away, that this church is so forgiving, and understanding, and caring, and their first thing was to worry about the family that was left behind,” Katie Hamilton, Sanford’s sister, told the Detroit Free Press.