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VISALIA, Calif. -- Thousands of people are expected to attend funeral services Friday for a California bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was shot to death last weekend.
The Visalia-Times Delta reports local police are planning to monitor and control traffic around the church before the 1 p.m. funeral for 40-year-old Clay Sannar. A major street will be shut down to accommodate the high volume of cars and people heading to the service.
Bishop Sannar was shot to death in his church office Sunday by 47-year-old Kenneth Ward, a former member of the Church. Witnesses say Ward walked into the meetinghouse visibly upset about something and asked to speak to a church leader.
Shortly after the shooting, Ward called police and led them to his childhood home, where an officer shot him. Ward died later that day. Family members say Ward suffered from mental illness and felt he had been wronged by the Church in the 1980s.
Police say Ward did not know Sannar.
Sannar was the general manager of Soil Basics, a fertilizer company in Visalia. He leaves behind his wife and six children, with the youngest less than 6 months old.
The Visalia-Times Delta reports Sannar will be buried in his home city of Gridley, Calif. following a funeral there Tuesday.
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*An account for Bishop Sannar's family has been set up at pledgie.com.
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