Heroic Forgiveness in Recent Church Shooting
Photo by Liza Summer, Pexels.com
On September 28, 2025, Thomas Jacob Sanford drove his pickup truck through the front doors of the meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during a worship service in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan. He opened fire with an assault rifle and then set the structure ablaze. Four people were killed and eight were wounded. He was killed in the parking lot by police. In the aftermath, at least six online fundraisers were started for the assailant’s widow and children. David Butler of Utah started a fundraising campaign that saw thousands of people donating. The fundraising efforts were not without their critics, who said that the victims’ families should be the recipients of the gifts. Yet, the gifts were a gesture of forgiveness, shown directly to the offending person’s family.
