10 things about US Marine Corps veteran Thomas Sanford from Burton, Michigan

Thomas Jacob “Jake” Sanford was an American outdoorsman from Burton, Genesee County, Michigan, United States. He worked as a wrecker driver assisting in the recovery of damaged vehicles before his military service.

Sanford came from a military family. He has an uncle who was in the U.S. Marine Corps and a grandfather who served in the Navy during World War II.

BIOGRAPHY

Sanford was a U.S. Martine Corps veteran born in Atlas, Michigan to Thomas Sanford and Brenda Walters Sanford. Jake’s last duty assignment was in combat logistics at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, USA.

Jake and Tella Campbell Sanford are Brantlee Vernon Sanford‘s parents. Brantlee has congenital hyperinsulinism, a rare condition where the insulin cells of the pancreas create too much insulin.

Shortly before Jake married Tella, he became a truck driver for Coca-Cola in Flint, Michigan. He was on family medical leave from the job to be with Brantlee after the baby was born.

In 2025, Jake died at age 40. Here are 10 more things about him:

1. He lived in Park City, Utah, USA.
2. Aside from Burton, he has lived in other parts of Michigan including Atlas and Flint.
3. His mother was born in 1960.
4. In 2003, he graduated from Goodrich High School in Goodrich, Michigan where he played baseball.
5. From 2004 to 2008, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a sergeant.
6. From 2007 to 2008, he was deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and had a seven-month combat tour in Iraq.
7. In 2015, he and Tella raised more than $3,500 through a GoFundMe campaign to seek donations for their son’s medical care.
8. In 2016, he married Tella and bought a house in Burton.
9. In 2019, he took to social media to post a photo of himself wearing a shirt expressing support for Donald Trump.
10. In 2025, he committed a mass shooting and arson attack in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan.

TIMELINE

In the U.S. Marine Corps, Jake worked as an organizational automotive mechanic and vehicle recovery operator. Among the medals were the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

2000s

• In June 2004, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
• In August 2007, he was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq.
• In March 2008, he returned to the U.S.
• In June 2008, he was discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps.

2010s

• On September 13, 2015, Tella gave birth to their son Brantlee at Hurley Medical Center in Flint.
• On September 24, 2015, he and Tella got engaged.
• On October 6, 2015, surgeons at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, USA removed 85% of his son Brantlee’s pancreas in an attempt to resolve his congenital hyperinsulinism.
• On March 13, 2016, he and Tella got married.

2020s

• In July 2025, Sanford turned 40.
• On September 28, 2025, he crashed his GMC Sierra truck into the front of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, used an assault rifle to shoot at congregants and set the building on fire. He killed at least four people and injured at least eight others. He was fatally shot in the parking lot after exchanging gunfire with the police officers who responded to the scene.