Grand Blanc church attack: LDS member raises over $300K for family of shooter

Fundraiser set up for Grand Blanc church shooter's family

An online Give Send Go established to help the family of shooter Thomas Jacob Sanford has raised $300,000 and counting in the wake of the attack on the Grand Blanc Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

FOX 2 - A crowd-funded effort online to help victims in a tragic incident is common - but one meant to provide assistance to the family of the killer who caused the tragedy - isn't.

The backstory:

An online Give Send Go established to help the family of shooter Thomas Jacob Sanford has raised $300,000 and counting in the wake of the attack on the Grand Blanc Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The mass shooting and intentionally set fire on Sunday killed four people and injured many others. Sanford, a Marine veteran with prior arrests, rammed his car into the church, opened fire with an assault rifle, and deliberately set a fire before being killed in a shootout with police.

But David Butler, an LDS member who has no connection to Grand Blanc or the Sanfords, wanted to help, and spoke to FOX 2 about it.

FOX 2: "With all of the outpouring of support going to Grand Blanc, the fact you decided to raise money for the shooter’s family I would consider that unusual."

Butler: "No one else had done it. It seemed clear it was the right thing to do, so I did.

"I don’t think this story is about me. I know you've got to talk to somebody, I think it’s about the 7,500 people and rolling, pitching in."

FOX 2: "Specially the wife and son … the son with some serious health issues since he was a baby. Do you identify with the wife and son. Is there a soft spot for them in particular?"

Butler: "There is at least one child here and a child who has serious health issues and now he’s fatherless right? And what is he going to know about his father and oh my God, right? Does he know now? What a horrible, what a horrible challenge that young woman and her child face."

FOX 2: "There’s always going to be critics. What would you say to the people who would say just give that money to the LDS church or something to that effect? What’s your counterpoint there?"

Butler: "Look, the ratio of light and love and giving and joy, to these sort of obnoxious reactions is about 100 to 1."

FOX 2: "If there’s something that you want people that aren’t familiar with the LDS Church, what do you want folks to know, what’s your message on behalf of that community?"

Butler: "God is great and moves in mysterious ways and it would be marvelous if one of the things that came out of this, was that people said, 'Hey look, the Mormons, I don’t like their crazy theology, but oh my gosh, they recognize the same morality I do."

To learn more about the fund-raising effort, OPEN HERE.