India, Sept. 29 -- Thomas Sanford, a suspected Michigan church shooter, ranted against against Mormons and called them "the antichrist" in an attack on a municipal council candidate in his hometown. The incident occurred days before he set the Latter-day Saints church to fire and started shooting at its members.

Kris Johns, a 44-year-old candidate for a Burton City Council seat, told the Detroit Free Press that he encountered an "extremely friendly" Sanford while knocking on people's doors during his campaigning last week.

Over the course of their roughly 20-minute conversation, Sanford opened up about his service as a US Marine in Iraq and his battle with drug addiction after returning home.

During discussion about religious belief, J...