Donald Trump has seized on a mass shooting at a Mormon church in Michigan on Sunday morning as “another targeted attack” on Christians the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination after a gunman drove through the doors of a packed service and fired an assault rifle on a crowd of worshippers.
At least 10 people were shot, with one dying in hospital, while the shooter died exchanging gunfire with police at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 80km north of Detroit. Authorities fear a fire that engulfed the building during the attack may lead to more victims.
Police fear more victims may be discovered as a result of the blaze.Credit: AP
The FBI has sent 100 agents to the area, Grand Blanc Township police chief William Renye said, while US attorney-general Pam Bondi described the attack as “chilling”, and the New York Police Department said it was sending officers to religious institutions across its city as a precaution.
The US president took to Truth Social to say that while the suspect was dead, “there is still a lot to learn”.
“This appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America. The Trump Administration will keep the Public [sic] posted, as we always do. In the meantime, PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!” he wrote.
The presidents comments come a week after he used a memorial for prominent evangelical Christian and conservative activist Charlie Kirk – who was shot while talking to an audience at a Utah university on September 10 – to describe the slain right-wing personality as a “martyr for American freedom”.
Trump has described the mass shooting as “another targeted attack on Christians despite the motive being unknown.Credit: AP
In the same speech he placed the blame for Kirk’s murder on the “radical left”. The incident has sent shockwaves around the US and has been seen by commentators as a galvanising moment for the Christian right.
Renye told a press conference police were still searching for a motive after the man, a 40-year-old from Burton, Michigan, burst in on “hundreds of people” while a morning service was underway just before 10.30am local time (12.30am AEST).
