Ex-marine who killed four at Michigan Mormon church was motivated by ‘anti-religious beliefs’, says FBI

Thomas Jacob Sanford, who also lit church on fire, was killed by police who responded to September shooting

The former US marine who opened fire in a Michigan church and set it ablaze in September was motivated by anti-religious beliefs" against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the FBI said on Friday.

While friends of the gunman in the deadly shooting have said he harbored hatred for what is widely known as the Mormon church, the FBI had previously declined to specify the motivation behind the attack that left four people dead and the church burned to the ground, except to say it was a targeted" act of violence.