TV News LIES

A gunman left a Michigan community reeling over the weekend after an attack at a church in Grand Blanc, Michigan, killed four people and injured eight others.

Police said the Sept. 28 shooting at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was carried out by a gunman and former Marine, 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford.

Sanford, of Burton, rammed a pickup truck bearing two American flags into the chapel during morning services, set it ablaze, and used an assault rifle to open fire on hundreds of worshippers. Police said he used gasoline to set the building on fire.

A local political candidate told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Sanford had ranted against Mormons during a conversation a week before the attack.

One victim, a church member, died at the scene, and a second died at a local hospital. At a press conference on the night of Sunday, Sept. 28, Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye said that two others who were inside the establishment had been identified in the charred debris, the Detroit Free Press reported.

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"It was very much standard anti-LDS talking points that you would find on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook," said Kris Johns, who has spoken with local police and the FBI.

Three police officers were fatally shot and two others injured while serving a warrant before the gunman killed himself, authorities in York County said Sept. 17.

Gov. Josh Shapiro went to the scene after the tragedy.

"This is an absolutely tragic and devastating day," Shapiro told reporters. "We grieve for the loss of life for the three precious souls who served this commonwealth, served this county and this county."

Shapiro also asked that people keep in mind the families of the victims of the shooting.

"I hope, as this community comes together, that we think not just about those who wear the uniform, but those behind them," Shapiro said. "These families are extraordinary and I hope you'll join me in prayer for them."

Minneapolis police have said over a dozen people have been hurt in two separate shootings at homeless encampments across the city on the same day.

The first shooting at a transit station wounded five people, and happened in an area that had seen two prior shootings in the past month.

Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara rued the shootings as disturbingly commonplace.

“Here we are yet again in the aftermath of a mass shooting. This is not normal,” O’Hara said.

The second shooting, which wounded eight, happened just two miles away, in a site that has been a topic of controversy in the Minneapolis area. Private landlord Hamoudi Sabri, who has been involved in homeless activism since 2021, has allowed the encampment on his property because he does not believe the city is addressing the root causes of homelessness.

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Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, briefly appeared at a Manhattan courthouse Sept. 16, where a judge swiftly dismissed two of the terrorism-related state charges against him.

Mangione, 27, faced nearly a dozen charges in New York state court after being accused of shooting Thompson, 50, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4, 2024. New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro dismissed the charges of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism shortly after Mangione was led into the lower Manhattan courtroom handcuffed and shackled, wearing tan prison garb. Mangione remains charged with second-degree murder.

Mangione's defense team had asked Carro to dismiss the state's "legally and factually unfounded" terrorism-related charges. Prosecutors argued in court filings that Mangione's writings and methodic planning of the attack justified the terrorism charges.

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Robert Redford, the legendary leading man with boyish good looks and charm who used his star power to advocate for independent filmmaking, environmentalism and LGBTQ rights, has died at age 89.

Redford died Tuesday, Sept. 16, at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah, "the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved. He will be missed greatly," his rep Cindi Berger told USA TODAY in a statement. "The family requests privacy."

During an acting career lasting more than 60 years, Redford became a Hollywood icon with an uncanny knack for finding the perfect scene partner. He saddled up with Paul Newman in the 1969 Western buddy adventure "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and 1973 hit con-man caper "The Sting" (which snagged Redford a best actor Oscar nomination), starred with Barbra Streisand in the 1973 romance "The Way We Were," and teamed with Dustin Hoffman for 1976's journalism thriller "All the President's Men."

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A former straight-A student from Utah is accused of shooting and killing conservative influencer Charlie Kirk with a bullet inscribed with a niche online meme. 

Those details emerged Friday, Sept. 12, after authorities announced the arrest of Tyler Robinson in Kirk’s slaying. 

Robinson, 22, is accused of shooting Kirk in the neck during a public appearance at Utah Valley University, located in the city of Orem, on Sept. 10.

It’s not yet clear what changed in Robinson’s life leading up to the shooting, but family and friends said he had become more political and angry. 

One of Robinson’s high school classmates, Xander Luke, said he “was politically active and outspoken about people’s rights.” The accused shooter “thought both political sides were contributing to a country being in a worse place and not improving the world,” Luke said.

The quiet street where Robinson lived with his parents is now the subject of intense scrutiny. Officers from the Washington City Police Department kept media and neighbors on the other side of the streetNeighbors were largely tight-lipped about the family, but many of those who spoke with USA TODAY focused on the family’s faith – they are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are known as Mormons.

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