More than a hundred people gathered in a city park in Grand Blanc Wednesday evening for a vigil to remember of the victims of Sunday’s deadly attack on a Mormon church.
Many people in Grand Blanc are still coming to terms with the attack that left four people dead and a chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a smoldering ruin.
Pastor Eric Stewart, the leader of the Ekklesia Southern Baptist church in Grand Blanc, told those at the vigil that the lord is close to the broken hearted.
“It’s very heart breaking to think about the evil that transpired here,” said Stewart, “But let’s turn our attention to the Lord — the one that can heal us, the one that can comfort us.”
A larger community memorial is scheduled to take place next week in Grand Blanc.
Meanwhile, three survivors of Sunday’s church attack in Grand Blanc remain in a local hospital recovering from gunshot wounds. Five others have been released from the hospital.
Dr. Chris Ash, a trauma surgeon at Henry Ford Genesys, where victims of the attack were sent, said as the physical wounds heal, he’s concerned about the mental and emotional wounds that remain, including those felt by the medical team who treated the victims.
“I think unfortunately we probably have a sense that we’re supposed to be able to save everybody, but we can’t,” Ash told reporters Wednesday.
The investigation into the shooting continues. Police officers shot and killed the gunman, 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, shortly after he set the church on fire.
