PARK CITY — Investigators say 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford attacked The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel, leaving four people dead, and at least eight injured.
According to social media posts, it appears he went by the name Jake.
Sanford was killed by authorities at the scene of the church shooting and fire.
NBC News spoke with a woman who said she rented a room to Sanford back in 2010.
In a phone call Tuesday, Sandra Winter said Sanford stayed in her Jeremy Ranch home for about one year.
“He was just a really nice guy,” Winter told NBC News. “I wouldn’t have imagined he would do something like this … He never displayed any anger.”
Winter said hearing that Sanford is the suspect in this deadly church attack is very shocking.
“He didn’t seem like a person who would go over the edge like this,” she told NBC. “I wouldn’t have recognized him by his actions.”
Winter said Sanford was dating a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said he wasn’t sure about joining the church.
Winter told NBC News they didn’t stay in touch after he abruptly moved out around 15 years ago.
KSL obtained a copy Sanford’s mugshot when he was arrested for driving under the influence in Summit County back in 2010.
Documents shows he pleaded guilty to impaired driving, a lesser charge.
A Michigan politician said he spoke to Sanford days before the attack.
City council candidate Kris Johns told CNN that Sanford, whom he’d never met before, brought up the LDS church.
“He did make the statement that Mormons are the anti-Christ, which is a shocking statement,” Johns said. “There was anger. It was a long-standing anger that, I’m speculating, but what he did took planning.”
The church building Sanford attacked is now mostly reduced to rubble.
Little remained of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel the day after a former Marine opened fire and set the building ablaze in Grand Blanc Township, Mich., Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Michigan outlets report he was a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. According to social media, it appears he has a young child with a medical condition.
Winter, Sanford’s former landlord, told the New York Times, that he did snow removal and landscaping work for a Utah company.
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