Politics
Michigan Mormon church shooting leaves at least 2 dead, several injured
![[2/3] Smoke rises as emergency personnel work at the scene of a shooting which took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to police, in Grand Blanc, Michigan, US, September 28, 2025.—Reuters](https://www.geo.tv/assets/uploads/updates/2025-09-29/626036_9243107_updates.jpg)
- Shooter drove vehicle into church, fired assault-style weapon.
- Suspect died in gunfire exchange with police officers.
- Authorities expect more victims in church ruins.
At least two people were killed and several others injured Sunday after a shooter targeted a Mormon church in Michigan, authorities said, in the latest deadly tragedy that US President Donald Trump called part of a national “epidemic of violence.”
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 kilometres) 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 the 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, director 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 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 were 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 shalt 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.
- Private carrier admits misjudgement, planning gaps.
- Regulator orders IndiGo to relieve senior office bearers.
- Operational meltdown linked to new policy of pilot rest.
India’s civil aviation regulator on Saturday imposed a fine of $2.45 million on IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline, for poor roster planning that led to large-scale flight cancellations in December.
Airports across India were thrown into disarray late last year, with the private carrier admitting “misjudgement and planning gaps” in adapting to a new policy of pilot rest.
Over 4,000 mostly domestic flights were either cancelled or delayed for over a week across the country, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The operational meltdown came even though IndiGo had two years to prepare for the new rules aimed at giving pilots more rest periods in between flights to enhance passenger safety.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it was levying the penalty for several lapses, including “failure to strike (a) balance between commercial imperatives and crew members’ ability to work effectively”.
The regulator ordered IndiGo to relieve its senior vice president of its operations control centre of his responsibilities, according to a statement released on Saturday.
It also issued warnings to senior officials at the company, including CEO Pieter Elbers “for inadequate overall oversight of flight operations and crisis management”.
There was no immediate response from IndiGo to the fine.
IndiGo, which commands 60% of India’s domestic market, operates more than 2,000 flights a day.
The crisis was one of the biggest challenges faced by the no-frills airline that has built its reputation on punctuality.
India is one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets. In November 2024, IndiGo reached a daily level of 500,000 passengers for the first time.
- Khamenei terms wave of protests “American conspiracy”.
- Iran’s supreme leader says will not spare domestic criminals.
- DPM Dar expresses hope for peace and stability in region.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday accused US President Donald Trump of being responsible for “casualties” during a protest wave in the country.
“We hold the American president guilty for the casualties, damages and accusations he has levelled against the Iranian nation,” he told a crowd of supporters during an address marking a religious holiday.
“This was an American conspiracy,” he said, adding that “America’s goal is to swallow Iran… the goal is to put Iran back under military, political and economic domination”.
He further said authorities “must break the back of the seditionists” after a crackdown on the protest wave.
“We do not intend to lead the country to war, but we will not spare domestic criminals… worse than domestic criminals, international criminals, we will not spare them either,” he added.
“By God’s grace, the Iranian nation must break the back of the seditionists just as it broke the back of the sedition.”
It is pertinent to mention here that more than 3,000 people have died in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said on Saturday, while a “very slight rise” in internet activity was reported in the country after an eight-day blackout.
The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the country, culminating in mass violence late last week.
Tensions in Iran, however, subsided after three weeks of protests under an internet blackout. The capital Tehran, however, has been comparatively quiet for four days, said several residents reached by Reuters.
Drones were flying over the city, but there were no signs of major protests on Thursday or Friday, said the residents, who asked not to be identified for their safety.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar held telephonic conversation with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today.
They discussed the current situation in Iran and the wider region.
DPM Dar expressed hope for peace and stability, and both sides agreed to continue bilateral consultations on matters of mutual interest.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump thanked Iran’s leaders for cancelling what he said were hundreds of planned executions of protesters after a crackdown.
Taking to his social media platform, he said the mass hangings had been called off and praised Tehran for the move.
US President Donald Trump, whose repeated threats to act had included a vow to “take very strong action” if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings.
“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he posted on social media.
- Venezuela’s Machado gave her Nobel medal to Trump.
- Donald Trump says he intends to keep the medal.
- Original laureate recorded in history as prize recipient.
OSLO: The Nobel Peace Prize remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation that won it, though the medal can be given away, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday, a day after last year’s winner gave her medalto US President Donald Trump.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gave her medalon on Thursday to Trump, who thanked her for it. The White House released a photo of Trump and Machado, with Trump holding up a gold-coloured frame displaying it, and a White House official said Trump intends to keep it.
Machado’s award also consists of a diploma and 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.19 million).
“Regardless of what may happen to the medal, the diploma, or the prize money, it is and remains the original laureate who is recorded in history as the recipient of the prize,” the award body said in a statement.
“There are no restrictions in the statutes of the Nobel Foundation on what a laureate may do with the medal, the diploma, or the prize money. This means that a laureate is free to keep, give away, sell, or donate these items,” it added.
‘Inseparably linked’
The medal and the diploma are physical symbols confirming that an individual or organisation has been awarded the prize, said the five-strong award committee.
“The prize itself – the honour and recognition – remains inseparably linked to the person or organisation designated as the laureate by the Norwegian Nobel Committee,” it said.
The committee, which did not refer to Trump and Machado by name in its statement, said it does not comment on a laureate’s statements, decisions or actions after the prize is announced.
It was not the first time a Nobel laureate has given away the medal. In 1943, Nobel literature laureate Knut Hamsun gave his to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
In 2022, Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov sold his medal for $100 million to raise money for the UN children’s fund Unicef to help Ukrainian refugee children.
In 2024, the widow of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan donated his 2001 Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma to the UN office in Geneva.
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