Bishop Jeffrey Schaub, bishop of the Grand Blanc Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where four people died and eight others were injured in a shooting and fire on Sunday, Sept. 28, said he knows people around the world are praying “for our ward and for our families.”
“It is the most significant time in my life where I have felt the love and prayer of other people,” Bishop Schaub said in a video from the Church released Monday on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
He said members of the ward in Grand Blanc, Michigan, are “quite shaken in spirit and in body.”
“It hurts,” he said, adding that he knows Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are aware of the challenges he and his ward are experiencing.
“I know that through our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can find joy again. I know that with His help, there can be healing. And I know that as we focus on Him, we can have joy,” Bishop Schaub said.
Split-second decisions led to lifesaving actions
Brian Taylor was one of more than 100 people in fast and testimony meeting on Sunday when the alleged gunman ran his pickup truck into the front of the meetinghouse.
Taylor relayed the events of that morning to the Deseret News.
He said the chapel was rocked by what sounded like an explosion as one member of the ward was bearing testimony. Then a massive dent appeared in the wall behind the pulpit and the wall began to crack.
At first, he assumed a car had malfunctioned and accidentally jumped the curb, sped over the grass and slammed into the brick front of the church.
“He couldn’t have been going less than 50 mph to get over that curb and still hit the wall that hard,” Taylor said.
Taylor and other men hurried from the chapel and out the west side of the building.
There they saw a beat-up Chevy Silverado truck bearing two American flags with a collapsed fender right under the familiar engraved name of the Church and the words, “Visitors Welcome.”
Bricks from the wall were spread across the truck’s hood and on top of the cab.
One woman, who had left the meeting a minute before to retrieve fruit snacks from her car for her little children, yelled at the men.
“He did it on purpose!” she screamed.
Unaware that the driver had a gun and intended to kill all he could, the men still sprang into what proved to be lifesaving action. They ran back into the building and began to usher everyone out of the chapel.
Taylor and others encouraged everyone to evacuate through the back of the building to cars or across the vast field behind the meetinghouse and into the forest surrounding Smith Lake.
As he escorted the elderly and families to the back of the building, Taylor stopped in the east foyer to lock the glass doors in case the driver tried to enter the church.
He then remembered that his teenage son had been assigned before the meeting to help people in the west foyer.
As that realization dawned, he heard gunfire from where he knew his son had been.
“Sheer panic,” Taylor said.
The alleged shooter, Thomas Jacob Sanford, entered that west foyer and shot at least one child and other church members. He poured out gasoline and set the building on fire, police and eyewitnesses said.
Unable to see or get to his son, Taylor continued to shepherd people down the long east hallway and out of the building into the parking lot. He had found his wife and two older women who couldn’t run across the field. The couple helped the women into their sedan while Taylor called his son.
The boy answered and told them he was hiding in another car in the parking lot and felt safe there and was too scared to get out and join his family in their car.
As Taylor looked for a way out of the parking lot, he saw the gunman come out of the building and raise his gun.
Taylor said Sanford started to fire when he saw Taylor “put the pedal to the metal.”
He then was faced with another difficult decision. Only one avenue was available to put distance between the women in his car and the weapon. He had to turn the car so that the passenger side faced the shooter.
“I was conscious I was putting my wife on the shooter’s side, but I didn’t have any other way out,” Taylor told the Deseret News. “It was pure panic for five seconds as I wondered, have I put her in harm’s way?”
“I took a U-turn south along the building,” he said. “Then gunshots hit the windshield and glass exploded inside the car.”
Miraculously, the bullets didn’t strike anyone in the car, but the shattered glass hit Taylor in the face and arms.
Seconds later, Taylor and his passengers were safely across the street, where they parked in a neighborhood and found people readily willing to shelter them.
At the same time, an officer from the Michigan Division of Natural Resources and another from the Grand Blanc Township Police Department confronted and killed Sanford.
Taylor immediately returned to the church to reunite with his son, and they watched as the fire consumed the Grand Blanc stake center, the headquarters for seven wards in their stake.
Even after showering and changing clothes, Taylor said he “can’t get that smell out of my nose.”
Since Sunday morning, members of the Grand Blanc Ward have been messaging each other through the Church’s Gospel Living app, checking on each other.
Everyone in the ward is concerned for the families of those who have died and for those injured and missing.
Some, like Taylor, keep playing back what happened.
“What-else-could-I-have-done thoughts keep pouring through your head,” he said.
He is on the list of those called heroes by Grand Blanc Township Police Chief Bill Renye.
“They were shielding the children who were also present within the church, moving them to safety,” the chief said. “Just hundreds of people just practicing their faith, just extreme courage, brave — and that’s the type of community that we are.”
“It’s just scary,” Taylor said. “I’m super grateful the Church is sending trauma and grief counselors. We’ll probably take advantage of that. My son knows his parents were shot at.”
Dealing with grief
Counselors for the Church’s Family Services provide what is called Psychological First Aid, after crises around the world. It is an evidence-informed approach to help anyone after a traumatic event. Like with medical First Aid, it was developed to meet immediate crisis needs by reducing the initial distress and fostering coping skills.
Psychological First Aid is based on an understanding that survivors may experience physical, psychological, behavioral and spiritual reactions.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has used this approach to create training and resources for members and leaders, including a discussion guide titled, “How Can I Minister to Others During a Crisis?” and a self-help guide called, “Facing Challenges.” Other resources can also be found through the Church’s “Tips for Emotional Preparedness.”
The discussion guide includes basic steps that anyone can follow when working to help someone in crisis.
Those five principles in the discussion guide are:
- Be compassionate
- Allow others to express their feelings
- Empathize and normalize responses
- Suggest ideas for ways to cope
- Offer hope
For anyone seeking help, the Church also created structured support systems, including a self-reliance course “Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience.” Resources are also available for mental health in the Life Help section of ChurchofJesusChrist.org, with guides for parents, leaders and anyone currently experiencing mental health challenges.
