Who was Igor Lanis? Michigan man's obsession with QAnon drove him to shoot wife dead and injure daughter
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OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN: In a tragic incident, Michigan man Igor Lanis killed his wife and severely injured daughter in a horrific turn of events on Sunday, Sept 11. As per family members, he was obsessed with QAnon conspiracy theory and started losing his ‘sense of reality’ after Trump lost the elections in 2020.
His younger daughter, Rebecca Lanis, who was out and attending a party when the incident took place, said to The Daily Beast, “He had a sense of reality. But then after 2020, when Trump lost, he started going down these crazy rabbit holes.”
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Who was Igor Lanis?
Igor Lanis, a 53-year-old Michigan man, lived in Walled Lake, and was a staunch believer in QAnon conspiracy theories. He was so invested in them that it led him to shoot his own family members on Sunday, Sept 11. After he had shot his wife dead and injured his daughter, he was shot down when he started firing at officers. As per the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, Igor Lanis also killed the family dog. The authorities found in their investigation that Lanis was obsessed with pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theories.
It was around 4.11 am when police first received a distress call on 911. The call came from 25-year-old Rachel Lanis, the elder daughter of Igor Lanis. Though she failed to provide her location on the call, dispatchers triangulated the call and it took only 5 minutes for officers to arrive at the home. The official statement read, “Officers observed the 911 caller/victim, a 25-year-old female, at the front door... attempting to crawl [out] from the home. They dragged her to safety. She stated that her dad shot her and her mother.”
Inside the house, the officers found the body of 56-year-old Tina Lanis, the dead wife of Igor, shot multiple times in the back. It looked like she had attempted to escape. On the other hand, Rachel Lanis suffered bullet shots to her back and legs. Her condition is stable now, confirmed the police.
Daughter blames QAnon
Rebecca Lanis, the younger daughter who escaped the tragedy, lamented that QAnon and their wild theories were a major factor in this devastating incident “It’s a very big contributor to what happened,” she said, revealing that her father was never physically violent. But after former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, his "mental health worsened." As per Rebecca Lanis, he "became drawn into the conspiracy theories. He insisted that family members watch conspiracy-theory videos about the 5G cell towers, vaccines, and the election. He started to believe that some world leaders were in fact alien lizard-people in disguise, a fringe conspiracy theory even among QAnon supporters.” Family members reportedly tried to get him to abandon these beliefs but arguing with him was “pointless,” revealed Rebecca.
Rebecca was in shock when she learnt about the death of her mother. She told CBS7, "It was like I was in a movie or nightmare or something. How could this happen to me? I had a really close bond with my mom, and I just can’t believe that she’s not here.” Rebecca Lanis says that her father's story is a warning to others to seek help for their loved ones who show signs of radicalization.
“I think that people need to focus more on radicalization, QAnon. If they have relatives with guns who are like this, you need to get them help, and they need to get checked into a mental institution, even if you think they’re not dangerous,” she said.