Police tape.Photo: Getty
Upon arrival, authorities say Lanis exited his home with a shotgun and fired on officers. Officers returned fire, killing him.
Inside the home, Lanis' wife, who appeared to suffer from multiple gunshot wounds to the back, was found dead. The family dog was also killed, according to the sheriff’s office.
“I think there was danger to anybody,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said, perThe Detroit News. “He had his keys with him, so who knows where he was headed. This is terribly sad on so many levels.”
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Speaking to the outlet, daughter Rebecca Lanis — who was not home at the time of the incident — identified the victims as her mother, 56-year-old Tina Lanis, and her sister, 25-year-old Rachel Lanis.
Rebecca also revealed she believed her father’s mental health battles, along with his fascination with the QAnon conspiracy theory — the false belief that former President Donald Trump has been battling a group of high-ranking, Democratic, Satan-worshipping pedophiles in politics and media — was part of her father’s psychological downward spiral that led to the shootings of her mom and sister.
“I think that he was always prone to [mental health problems], but it really brought him down when he was reading all those weird things on the internet,” Rachel told the outlet. “Nobody could talk him out of them.”
“Right-wing extremism is not funny, 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.”
“In 2020 after Trump lost, my dad started going down the Q rabbit hole,” the post reads. “He kept reading conspiracy theories about the stolen election, Trump, vaccines, etc. He always said he wanted to keep us safe and healthy.”
Confirming the deaths of her parents, Rebecca added, “F— you, Qanon. I hope the FBI tightens its grip on you and that your lackies [sic] rot in prison (and hell) for poisoning so many people.”
source: people.com
