LANSING, MICHIGAN—An online fundraiser for family members of the man who opened fire in a Michigan church and set it ablaze has raised over $275,000 as of Thursday in what the organizer described as a “whirlwind of love and forgiveness.”
On Sunday, Thomas “Jake” Sanford, 40, drove his pickup truck into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township killed four people, injured eight others and left the church destroyed. Police killed Sanford at the scene.
Dave Butler, a Utah resident and lifelong member of the church, considered the family of Sanford also as victims.
“We understand that there is a family that needs to be taken care of,” he said.
Butler set up the fundraiser on the platform GiveSendGo on Tuesday and donations poured in.
