Overview
- Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton declined to file charges after a Feb. 3–4 review concluded the officers’ use of deadly force was lawful self-defense and defense of others.
- The officers were a Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer and a Grand Blanc Township police officer, with their names redacted and the decision letter sent to Michigan State Police.
- Investigators cited body-worn camera audio, surveillance video and witness statements indicating Thomas Jacob Sanford raised his rifle, yelled “shoot me,” then lowered it in a threatening manner.
- Both officers fired nearly simultaneously in the parking lot, fatally striking Sanford, and an autopsy found rounds from a law-enforcement weapon in his body.
- Authorities say Sanford rammed a pickup into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sept. 28, 2025, set fires and opened fire with multiple guns, killing four and wounding eight, and the FBI has described the assault as a targeted, anti-religious act.