By ED WHITE

DETROIT (AP) — The man who shot up a Michigan church and set a fire that killed four people was a former U.S. Marine who expressed animosity about the Mormon faith to a city council candidate knocking on doors just days before the attack.

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Thomas Sanford, who was known as Jake, drove a pickup truck with a deer skull and antlers strapped to the front and two large American flags flapping in the wind in the bed, according to friends and social media posts.

Sanford, 40, smashed that truck into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township. He was killed by police officers who rushed to the scene Sunday, 60 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Detroit. The building was destroyed.

Kris Johns, a council candidate in Burton, said he met Sanford while introducing himself to voters last week. He told MLive.com that Sanford was pleasant but became “unhinged” when he suddenly began talking about the Mormon church, as it is widely known.

It’s not known what ties, if any, Sanford had to the church. But Johns said Sanford indicated that some members wanted him to get rid of his tattoos. He also talked about “sealing,” the Mormon temple ceremony of joining a man, a woman and their children together for eternity.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends,” said the FBI was learning that Sanford “hated people of the Mormon faith.”

Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton said his office wrote warrants to search Sanford’s vehicles, home and electronic devices to try to discover his motives.

“All this takes time,” he told The Associated Press.

Coincidentally, Sanford and his family lived next to a church, Eastgate Baptist, in Burton. Pastor Jerome Taylor said he mostly talked to Sanford about fallen trees on church property that his neighbor wanted to cut and sell as firewood.

“He had free rein,” said Taylor, who described Sanford as a “general blue-collar person in our neighborhood.”

“The knowledge that there was a threat, a danger, across our property line so heinous — it’s a little bit mind-warping,” he said, adding that Sanford never attended Eastgate Baptist.

A family friend, Kara Pattison, said she saw Sanford on Friday, two days before the shooting. She and her daughter were walking in the street at the Goodrich High School homecoming parade and became startled when the driver of a pickup truck hit the gas pedal hard.

When the window was rolled down, it was Sanford “laughing,” Pattison said.

“How do you mourn the death of someone who did something so terrible?” Pattison told WDIV-TV, referring to the church attack.

After high school, Sanford served in the Marines from 2004 to 2008, including seven months in Iraq, focusing on vehicle operations and maintenance, records show. He was discharged at the rank of sergeant.

Under Michigan law, police, family or health professionals can ask a judge to take guns away from someone for reasons that include mental health. There were no petitions filed against Sanford, court administrator Barbara Menear said.

In 2015, Sanford’s baby son received groundbreaking treatment at a Fort Worth, Texas, hospital for a condition called “hyperinsulinism,” or abnormally high levels of insulin. The boy’s stay at Cook Children’s Health Care System lasted for weeks and was promoted by the hospital in a news release.

Sanford told the hospital that a doctor’s willingness to help his son was a “sign from heaven.”

“We put our faith to the wind and it took us to Texas,” he said.

Google’s YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump over his 2021 account suspension following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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According to documents filed in federal court in California, $22 million of the settlement will be contributed to the Trust for the National Mall and the rest will go to other plaintiffs, including the American Conservative Union.

Google is the latest big tech company to settle lawsuits brought by Trump. In January, Meta Platforms agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit over his 2021 suspension from Facebook. Elon Musk’s X agreed to settle a similar lawsuit brought against the company then known as Twitter for $10 million.

The settlement does not constitute an admission of liability, the filing says. Google confirmed the settlement but declined to comment beyond it.

The disclosure of the settlement came a week before a scheduled Oct. 6 court hearing to discuss the case with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in Oakland, California.

By STEPHEN McGRATH

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovans gave the country’s pro-Western governing party a clear parliamentary majority in a weekend election, defeating pro-Russian groups in a vote widely viewed as a stark choice between East and West.

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European leaders Monday hailed Moldovans for re-affirming their commitment to a Western path and future membership in the European Union in the face of alleged Russian interference. The country is small in size and population but with outsized geopolitical importance.

“You made your choice clear: Europe. Democracy. Freedom,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X. “No attempt to sow fear or division could break your resolve.”

Landlocked between war-torn Ukraine and EU and NATO member Romania, Moldova was a Soviet republic until it proclaimed independence in 1991. In recent years it has taken a clear Westward path, turning the country into a geopolitical battleground between Russia and Europe.

The outcome of Sunday’s high-stakes ballot was noteworthy considering Moldovan authorities’ repeated claims that Russia was conducting a vast “hybrid war” to try to sway the outcome. Moldova applied to join the EU in 2022 in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and was granted candidate status that year. Brussels agreed to open accession negotiations last year.

The election results

With nearly all polling station reports counted on Monday, electoral data showed the pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, securing 50.1% of the vote, while the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc won 24.2%. The Russia-friendly Alternativa Bloc came third, followed by the populist Our Party. The right-wing Democracy at Home party also won enough votes to enter parliament.

Electoral data indicate the PAS will hold a clear majority of about 55 of the 101 seats in the legislature.

At the PAS campaign headquarters on Monday morning in the capital Chisinau, party leader Igor Grosu described the election as another battle against “enemies of our country that once seemed impossible to defeat,” saying the race was a “final battle for the future.”

“It was not only PAS that won these elections, it was the people who won,” he said. “The Russian Federation threw into battle everything it had that was most vile — mountains of money, mountains of lies, mountains of illegalities. It used criminals to try to turn our entire country into a haven for crime. It filled everything with hatred.”

At the annual meeting of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Moldova’s U.N. Ambassador Gheorghe Leucă told ministers and ambassadors Monday that “Despite unprecedented pressure, disinformation and interference from the Kremlin, the Moldovan people defended democracy through free and fair elections.”

The people of Moldova made the choice, he said, but the meaning of the election is global and showed that “democracy can prevail even under relentless pressure.” He also said democracies can’t stand alone and need “solidarity, resilience and support.”

Building a new government

After a legislative election, Moldova’s president nominates a prime minister, generally from the leading party or bloc, which can then try to form a new government. A proposed government then needs parliamentary approval.

It is considered likely that President Maia Sandu, who founded PAS in 2016, will opt for some continuity by once again nominating Prime Minister Dorin Recean, an economist who has steered Moldova’s government through multiple crises since 2023. Recean also previously served as Sandu’s defense and security adviser.

“The major task right now is to bring back the society together, because what Russia achieved, is to produce a lot of tension and division in society,” Recean told reporters.

Sandu said on Monday that the outcome proved Moldovans “can unite when our country’s future is at stake” but that the victory must benefit all citizens.

“Moldova is our common home,” she said. “We all share the same hopes: to live in peace and freedom, and to offer our children a safe future here, at home. The surest path to those goals is the European path. Yesterday’s vote is a strong mandate for Moldova’s EU accession.”

The alleged Russian schemes included orchestrating a large-scale vote-buying scheme, conducting more than 1,000 cyberattacks on critical government infrastructure so far this year, a plan to incite riots around Sunday’s election, and a sprawling disinformation campaign online to sway voters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken to Sandu on the phone and congratulated her on what he called “a very important victory” for Moldova. “Russian subversion, constant disinformation — none of this worked,” he said.

Moscow had repeatedly denied meddling in Moldova.

Bomb threats and cyberattacks on election day

Election day was dogged by a string of incidents, ranging from bomb threats at multiple polling stations abroad to cyberattacks on electoral and government infrastructure, voters photographing their ballots and some being illegally transported to polling stations. Three people were also detained, suspected of plotting to cause unrest after the vote.

Igor Dodon, a former president and a member of the pro-Russian Patriotic Electoral Bloc, called for a protest in front of the Parliament building on Monday after alleging, without presenting any evidence, that the PAS meddled with the vote.

PAS campaigned on a pledge to continue Moldova’s path toward EU membership by signing an accession treaty to the 27-nation bloc by 2028, doubling incomes, modernizing infrastructure, and fighting corruption.

An unambiguous victory

Cristian Cantir, a Moldovan associate professor of international relations at Oakland University in Michigan, told The Associated Press that PAS’s victory means it will “be able to ensure continuity in the next few years in the pursuit of their ultimate goal of EU integration.”

“A PAS majority saves the party from having to form a coalition that would have most likely been unstable and would have slowed down the pace of reforms to join the EU,” he said but added: “Moldova will continue to be in a difficult geopolitical environment characterized by Russia’s attempts to pull it back into its sphere of influence.”

Some 1.6 million people, or about 52.1% of eligible voters, cast ballots, according to the Central Electoral Commission, with 280,000 of them coming from votes in polling stations set up abroad.

“I see progress in our government and in our evolution … how to be a part of Europe,” said 21-year-old student Nichita Prepelita. “PAS said Moldova will integrate into the European Union in 2028. For me, it’s a little bit hard to believe … but I hope it will be.”

“Now people are really choosing between … Europe and Russia,” he added.

The Kremlin on Monday said “hundreds of thousands” of Moldovans living in Russia were unable to vote in the election due to an alleged lack of polling stations set up in the country. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was “obviously insufficient and couldn’t give everyone the opportunity to vote,” without providing further details.

Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, U.K., and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

By CAROLYN THOMPSON and ALLEN G. BREED

A decorated Marine veteran charged with firing an assault rifle from a boat at a waterfront bar in North Carolina, killing three people and wounding five, appeared subdued in court Monday as prosecutors said they may seek the death penalty.

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Nigel Edge, 40, a Purple Heart recipient whose last assignment was with a Wounded Warrior battalion, made his first court appearance via video link after Saturday’s mass shooting. He’s charged with murder, attempted murder and assault.

Law enforcement officers “got the confession” from the suspect following his arrest, said North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Director Chip Hawley at a news conference Monday. He did not elaborate.

Five people remained hospitalized from the violence in Southport, a historic port town about 30 miles south of Wilmington. None of the victims’ identities have been released.

On Sunday, another 40-year-old former Marine crashed a pickup into a Michigan church during services, shot into the building and set it ablaze, killing four people and wounding eight. It was the second mass shooting in the U.S. in less than 24 hours.

‘Highly premediated’ attack

District Attorney Jon David said his office had yet to review medical records but described Edge as having “significant mental health issues” after experiencing a traumatic brain injury, according to WECT News.

Authorities said Edge piloted a boat close to shore, stopped briefly and opened fire at a crowd of vacationers and other patrons in what Southport Police Chief Todd Coring called a “highly premeditated” targeted attack.

This undated image provided by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office shows Nigel Edge. (Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

He was arrested about a half an hour later after a U.S. Coast Guard crew spotted him pulling a boat from the water at a public ramp on Oak Island, where he lives.

Edge requested a court-appointed attorney and declined to comment during his appearance in Brunswick County Court, WECT News reported. He showed no obvious emotion as the district attorney said his office would review whether the death penalty is appropriate.

No plea was entered. Edge was ordered to remain in custody pending his next court hearing, scheduled for Oct. 13.

Name change and legal disputes

Edge, who was born in Suffern, New York, and changed his name from Sean DeBevoise in 2023, told police he was injured in combat and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, Southport’s police chief said.

Oak Island Police Chief Charles Morris said Edge was known to officers who frequently saw him by the town pier, and that Edge filed “numerous lawsuits” against the department and town in recent years. In one, he sought body camera video from an encounter after his boat trailer was vandalized.

Legal records indicate Edge turned to the court system to air a variety of perceived grievances.

Among a number of local and federal lawsuits, one from May 12 accused an area church of trying to make him commit suicide because “he is not LGBQT or a pedophile.”

In another, in 2024, he made numerous claims against his parents, including that they’d falsified a birth certificate “for a feral child.”

“Plaintiff suffers from war injuries and he suffers from delusions and PTSD. The VA needs to take care of him!!!” his mother, Sandra Lynn DeBevoise, wrote in response.

The DeBevoises could not be reached for comment Monday. Telephone listings could not be located.

In his petition to change his name, he gave this reason: “There have been alot of events in my life that I don’t understand. Therefore I do not trust my family, and I would feel more comfortable starting my life in a new path with a new name.”

Military deployment and combat injuries

Edge served in the military from 2003-2009, achieving the rank of sergeant in 2007, according to military records, which list his specialties as assault man and reconnaissance man. He had deployments in 2005 and 2006 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and was awarded a Purple Heart, a medal given to those wounded or killed in action. Other awards include a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action Ribbon (Iraq) and Iraq Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, which denote time spent in Iraq.

His last duty assignment was with Wounded Warrior Battalion East, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, records show. The battalions’ mission is to maximize recovery and ensure a smooth transition, whether returning to duty or civilian life, military officials said.

Details of his injuries were not released. A 2017 news story in the Wilmington Star-News described DeBevoise as a Marine sniper who said he’d been left for dead after being shot four times, including in the head, during a raid on a warehouse in Iraq in May 2006. The story detailed his efforts to raise money to start a commercial fishing business.

A public profile

A 2012 post on singer Kellie Pickler’s X account appears to show her with a picture of the suspect in a Marine uniform at the Country Music Awards. The photo, first reported by the New York Post, was captioned: “Me and my date (Sgt Sean Debevoise).”

Pickler could not be reached for comment.

Mental health and gun laws

Gov. Josh Stein said the weekend shootings were further proof of the need for improvements to “fix our broken mental health care system.”

Joey Whitaker from Holden Beach plays “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes in front of the American Fish Company following a fatal shooting that occurred here the night before, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Southport, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)

“We know that the vast majority of folks with mental health challenges pose no risk to others, but some can,” Stein said. “There are too many people in our communities with dangerous obsessions exhibiting threatening behavior who do pose risks.”

The North Carolina legislature passed a criminal justice reform bill last week in the wake of the stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte commuter train that in part includes a greater emphasis upon defendants who need mental health examinations. Stein hasn’t yet said whether he’d let the bill become law or veto it.

The legislation lacks a “red flag” law pushed by Democrats for years that would allow a judge to take guns away temporarily from a person whom a judge has found to be a grave risk to the community or themselves. Stein said he thinks such a law is a good idea, although he didn’t know whether it would have been triggered in this case.

Breed reported reported from Raleigh, N.C. Thompson reported from Buffalo, N.Y. Gary Robertson contributed from Raleigh, N.C.