Sawt Falasteen - Two dead after US shooting, fire at Mormon church

The suspect, a 40-year-old man from a nearby town in the northern US state, was shot dead by law enforcement responding to the attack, in which the church was also set ablaze, police said, without specifying any possible motive.

Trump called the shooting "horrendous" and said on his Truth Social platform it "appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America."

Images from the scene showed emergency services escorting people on stretchers and a large plume of dark smoke at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of the capital Lansing.

Debbie Horkey, who lives near the church, told AFP: "My husband heard people screaming, one lady yelling for help."

Local police chief William Renye said the suspect drove his vehicle into the church and then began firing at people inside with an assault rifle.

He told reporters the service was active with "hundreds of people within the church."

Authorities believe the gunman also deliberately set fire to the church before he was killed by responding police officers, Renye said.

Ten gunshot victims were transported to hospital, the official said, of whom two have died.

He added that the fire had been extinguished but that "we do believe that we will find additional victims once we have that scene secure."

- 'Epidemic of violence' -

FBI agents are on the scene to assist the investigation, chief Kash Patel said on X.

"Violence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act. Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this terrible tragedy," he wrote.

Attorney General Pam Bondi also said she had been briefed on the incident.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called Sunday's attack a "tragic act of violence."

"Places of worship are meant to be sanctuaries of peacemaking, prayer and connection. We pray for peace and healing for all involved," it wrote on X.

The United States, where firearms are readily available, has a long history of gun violence.

But tensions have soared in recent weeks after a series of high-profile attacks, including the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah and a deadly shooting at a federal immigration facility in Texas.

Sunday's attack also comes a month after a mass shooting at a Catholic church and school in Minnesota, in which two children were killed while attending Mass, and several others severely injured.

Political divisions have grown even deeper in the wake of the attacks, with Trump launching a campaign to target left-wing groups he accuses of being "domestic terrorists."

In his Truth Social post Sunday, Trump wrote: "THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!"

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a staunch Republican and Trump ally, said he had ordered the formation of task forces to work with law enforcement to better protect places of worship in his state after the Michigan shooting.

"The fundamental principle that thou shall not kill must be strongly reaffirmed as a core tenet of our society and must be aggressively enforced by law enforcement," he wrote on X.

T.Khatib--SF-PST