At least four people are dead and several others were injured after a man crashed a vehicle into a Michigan church, opened fire with a rifle, and set the building ablaze during a Sunday service, authorities said.

The suspect died after exchanging gunfire with responding officers in the church’s parking lot.

Though officials have not given a motive, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that the perpetrator was “an individual who hated people of the Mormon faith”.

Hundreds of people were attending the service at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons, in a suburb of Flint, Michigan, when the incident occurred.

Ten people suffered gunshot wounds, including two who were pronounced dead at the scene. Seven of the hospitalised victims were stable, and one was in critical condition.

Two more bodies were discovered in the church as authorities searched through the burned out rubble.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the incident “as an act of targeted violence,” said Reuben Coleman, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office.