GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Two close friends of the Grand Blanc Township church attack suspect said they had a bizarre and disturbing encounter with him just days before.

Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, of Burton, is suspected of driving his pickup truck into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township. Police said Sanford got out, fired shots from an assault rifle, and then lit the church on fire.

At least four people were killed, many others were injured, and some people are still unaccounted for.

Local 4 spoke to two longtime friends of Sanford on Sunday after the attack. They said they were shocked, but not necessarily surprised.

“How do you mourn the death of someone who did something so terrible?” Kara Pattison said. “If you asked me out of everybody I know to pick 10 people you think might do something like this, I wouldn’t not pick him. And I hate saying that.”

Pattison said she knew Sanford as a “fun-loving family guy,” but also someone who “harbored unkind feelings toward certain groups.”

“He definitely talked about groups of people in ways that weren’t acceptable,” Pattison said.

Pattison said she and her 16-year-old daughter, Lydia, had a scary and bizarre encounter with Sanford just 48 hours before the church attack. They said Sanford was in his truck at the time.

“We started to cross, and the truck like gunned its engine and came at us,” Pattison said. “I blocked my daughter and we jumped back, and then the window rolled down, and it was Jake. He was laughing. He’s, like, ‘Oh, got you guys.’”

Pattison said that was not necessarily normal behavior from Sanford.

“He had never pretended to run us over before, so no, that wasn’t normal behavior,” Pattison said.

Lydia used to babysit for Sanford’s son.

“I was devastated,” Lydia said. “I didn’t think someone that I knew and loved would do this to people. It’s devastating. It’s so bad.”

She said she can’t get the victims or Sanford’s family out of her head.

“I love (Sanford’s son) so much and I feel so bad for the wife and son because I can’t imagine what they’re going through right now,” Lydia said.

Click here to see all of our coverage of the Grand Blanc church attack.