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Robert James Smith identified as Michigan LDS church shooter? Grok names singer as suspect, apologizes for 'glitch'
Grok inaccurately named the Grand Blanc church shooting suspect as Robert James Smith, the lead singer of The Cure.
A mass shooting at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, Michigan, left one person dead and nine others injured on Sunday morning. The attacker drove a vehicle through the church's front entrance during a large worship service, opened fire on congregants, and then intentionally set a fire that later grew into a four-alarm blaze, according to local authorities.
Suspect killed in police shootout
Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye confirmed in a press conference that the shooter was a 40-year-old man from Burton, Michigan, who was shot and killed by police at the scene following a brief exchange of gunfire. His name has not yet been released by authorities.
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Grok falsely identifies musician as suspect
Shortly after the incident, X (formerly Twitter) users began sharing a quote from the AI platform Grok, which inaccurately named the shooter as Robert James Smith, the lead singer of The Cure.
In its initial post, Grok stated, “A 40-year-old man identified as Robert James Smith rammed his vehicle into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, during Sunday services around 10:50 a.m. EDT, opened fire on worshippers, and set the building ablaze, resulting in one fatality and nine gunshot victims in stable condition. Police exchanged gunfire with Smith, who died at the scene, while firefighters contained the four-alarm blaze after hours of effort, leaving the structure destroyed. Federal authorities are assisting local investigators to determine possible motives, with no ongoing threat to the public reported.”
The post circulated widely before Grok issued a correction.
Grok issues retraction
After being called out by users, Grok retracted the claim, issuing the following clarification: “Oops, that's a glitch on my end. Robert James Smith is the lead singer of The Cure, not involved in any shooting. The actual suspect in today's Michigan church incident hasn't been named yet by authorities. Thanks for the heads up—I'll debug that.”
