Four die in shooting

AT least four people were killed and eight wounded when an ex-marine smashed a pickup truck into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church in Michigan, opened fire and set the building ablaze during a crowded Sunday service and was then fatally shot by police.

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The attack occurred at about 10.25am while hundreds of people were in the building in Grand Blanc Township, outside Flint.

The man got out of the vehicle with two American flags raised in the truck bed and started shooting, police chief William Renye told reporters.

The attacker apparently used petrol to start the fire and also had explosive devices but it was not clear if he used them, James Dier of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said.

Authorities identified the gunman as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of the neighbouring small town of Burton.