QAnon ‘rabbit hole’ led father to shoot daughter, kill wife, family member says
The youngest daughter of a man who shot her sister and killed his wife attributed her father’s violence to years of reading QAnon extremism online.
Rebecca Lanis, 21, of Walled Lake, Michigan, told WXYZ that her father, Igor Lanis, 53, “became a different person after 2020” when former President Donald Trump lost the presidential election.
“My dad started going down the Q[Anon] rabbit hole,” Rebecca wrote in a post on the r/QAnonCasualties subreddit. The post was made anonymously, but Reddit moderators later verified her identity.
QAnon is a collection of right-wing internet conspiracy theories that falsely claim that the world is run by a secret group that plotted against Trump, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Rebecca Lanis said in the Reddit post that her dad “kept reading conspiracy theories about the stolen election, Trump, vaccines, etc… It kept getting worse.”
She said her father’s mental health worsened as he read the “online extremism, QAnon, right-wing extremism,” she told WXYZ
Then, “my Qdad snapped,” she posted on Reddit. “The internet ruined him.”
Igor Lanis is accused of shooting his 25-year-old daughter in the back of the legs before fatally shooting his 56-year-old wife and the family dog just after 4 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The older daughter, who Rebecca identified as Rachel Lanis per The Detroit News, called 911, authorities said.
Igor Lanis shot at the responding law enforcement officials when they approached the home and they returned fire, fatally wounding the man, authorities said.
Rachel Lanis was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery and was listed in stable condition on Sunday, officials said.
Her 56-year-old mother, who Rebecca identified as Tina Lanis to The Detroit News, died on the scene, per the release.
Rebecca Lanis said she was at a friend’s house during the incident, WXYZ reported.
“I had a really close bond with my mom, and I can’t believe she’s not here,” she told WXYZ.
“Right-wing extremism is not funny,” she told the Detroit News, “and people need to watch their relatives and if they have guns, they need to hide them or report them or something because this is out of control.”
Law enforcement did not respond to McClatchy News when asked to comment on Rebecca Lanis’ statements.
Walled Lake is about 30 miles northwest of Detroit.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 11:19 AM with the headline "QAnon ‘rabbit hole’ led father to shoot daughter, kill wife, family member says."
