Ex-Mormon shot Calif. bishop, brother says

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VISALIA, Calif., Aug. 30 (UPI) -- A California man who died in a gun battle with police after fatally shooting a Mormon Church bishop felt wronged by another church bishop, his brother said.

Police identified Kenneth James Ward, 47, of Modesto, Calif., as the man who shot to death Bishop Clay Sannar, 42, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Visalia Sunday before dying in a shootout with police less than 2 miles away, the Visalia Times-Delta reported.

Mike Ward of Bakersfield told the newspaper his older brother Kenneth took their grandfather's handgun and shot Sannar, a father of six, because he believed he had been "shunned to hell" by another bishop in 1988.

That could explain why Ward asked for a "bishop" or "president" when he walked into the church and shot Sannar, his brother said, but Kenneth did not know Sannar.

After shooting Sannar, Ward called police, then led officers to his childhood home, where he was killed by officers.

Visalia Police Capt. Rick Haskill said Sannar was shot several times, the Deseret News in Salt Lake City reported.