At least four people were killed after a gunman opened fire inside a Mormon church in the midwestern US state of Michigan on Sunday, authorities said.

Eight people have been injured, one of them in a critical condition, in a shootout at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Detroit.

"We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of prayers and concern from so many people around the world," the church posted on X. 

What do we know about the Michigan Mormon church shooting?

Police said the alleged shooter first rammed his vehicle through the front doors of the church before opening fire with an assault rifle, and then set the building on fire. Hundreds of people were in the church at that time.

The suspect was killed by police in the parking lot eight minutes after the incident began, Grand Blanc Police Chief William Renye told a press conference.

The alleged perpetrator has been identified as a 40-year-old former US Marine from the nearby town of Burton.

Renye said that investigators will search the suspect's home and phone records to find a motive.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday denounced the incident as "another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America." 

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko, Zac Crellin