Thelma Rina Armstrong, 54, was killed during a mass shooting and arson attack at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, on Sunday, September 28, 2025. A native of Klerksdorp, South Africa, born May 8, 1971, she had immigrated to the United States in 2019 to be near her daughter and grandchildren and worked as a Quality Technician at American Axle. Church members knew her as Yia Yia and the Missionary Mother for her nurturing role in the congregation.

The assault began about 10:25 a.m. when a man drove a pickup through the church’s front doors, opened fire with an assault-style rifle, and a fire that investigators believe was set with accelerant spread through the building. Thelma was wounded in the attack and died in an ambulance en route to the hospital. Three other worshippers were killed and eight more were wounded, ages ranging from six to 78.

Law enforcement confronted 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford of Burton outside the church; an exchange of gunfire left Sanford dead at the scene. Investigators found improvised explosive devices in his vehicle and the FBI described the incident as targeted violence. With the sole suspect deceased, no arrests have been made.