At least two people are dead and several people have suffered injuries after a gunman opened fire inside a Michigan church during a Sunday service before apparently setting the building on fire, authorities said.
Officials said police shot the suspect, who police have named as Thomas Jacob Sanford, following the incident at a Mormon church in the US state. He was killed.
Hundreds of people were inside the church in Grand Blanc Township when the suspect rammed a four-door pick-up truck with two American flags in the truck bed through the front door, then got out of the vehicle and started shooting, police chief William Renye told reporters.
Investigators believe he “deliberately” set the building on fire, Mr Renye said.
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Officers responded to an emergency call and were at the church within 30 seconds and killed the gunman about seven minutes later, he said.
After the suspect left the church, two officers pursued him and “engaged in gunfire”, Mr Renye said.
Flames and smoke could be seen for hours before the blaze was put out and first responders have been attending the scene.
“We do believe we will find some additional victims once we find the area where the fire was,” Mr Renye said.
Mr Renye said one of the wounded people was in critical condition and seven others were stable.
Officers said they did not yet have a motive for the fire or shooting. Investigators were searching the suspect’s residence in nearby Burton.
Police cordoned off the street leading to the suspect’s home in neighbouring Burton, where investigators were searching his residence.
US president Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he had been briefed on the “horrendous” shooting.
He applauded the FBI, which local authorities said were sending 100 agents to the area, for responding.
“PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!” Mr Trump wrote.
Scott Bennett, supervisor of Grand Blanc Township, said the shooting and fire was “a tragedy that nobody wants to encounter”.
The church, circled by a car park and a large lawn, is located near residential areas and a Jehovah’s Witness church.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that her heart was breaking for the Grand Blanc community.
“Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable,” she said.
The shooting occurred the morning after Russell M Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died at 101.
The next president of the faith, known widely as the Mormon Church, is expected to be Dallin H Oaks, as per church protocol.
It was the latest of many shooting attacks on houses of worship in the US over the past 20 years, including one in August that killed two children during mass at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis.
– Reuters, AP, PA
