ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County police fatally shot Dr. Aleksandr G. Lanis on March 21, 2025, at his home on Hawkins Bend Road. This body-cam footage has been edited from its original length by the Post-Dispatch. Courtesy of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County Police Department.
SOUTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Two police officers were standing on Dr. Aleksandr G. Lanis’ front porch one morning this spring. They needed to arrest him.
The interaction started off cordially, according to body-camera footage released Thursday. The officers, both from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County police, were almost apologetic.
“Hey, Dr. Lanis?†one officer said when Lanis opened the door.
“Hi. How are you guys?†Lanis said.
Over the next 3 minutes the meeting turned from a polite inquiry to gunfire.
Lanis, a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ University medical school graduate and primary care doctor with nearly perfect marks on post-care surveys, was in the middle of a divorce with his wife. She and their 4-year-old son had moved out of the house. He worried she would take their son overseas. And Lanis had just been fired from his job in the Mercy hospital network.
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The body-camera footage was included in a 14-minute critical-incident briefing released by ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County police, the 13th time the department has released that kind of briefing. County police Sgt. Tracy Panus said police are still investigating the shooting but chose to share the video publicly “as part of our commitment to transparency.â€
The video blurs the officers’ faces.
It starts on the morning of March 21.
Police were at Lanis’ home, on Hawkins Bend Drive near Fenton, to arrest him on suspicion of first-degree harassment and tampering with a vehicle. He was accused of showing up at a recreation center on March 8 and tampering with a car that belonged to a relative of his estranged wife.
On the porch that morning, the officers didn’t elaborate on why he was being arrested.
Lanis, 38, in white socks, jeans and an Eddie Bauer down jacket, stood in the doorway of the home.
The officers said they needed him to come onto the porch. They said they knew Lanis had “a lot going on†in his personal life.
Lanis looked stunned. He didn’t budge, even as officers asked him repeatedly to come outside onto the porch.
“Can I take a minute?†he asked.
“Well, we need you to step out now,†the officer coaxed. An officer said they were there to arrest him.
Lanis replied, “Really? Oh my God.â€
This screen grab from police body-cam footage shows Dr. Aleksandr G. Lanis talking with a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County police officer on March 21, 2025. Lanis grabbed a gun and was shot to death in a scuffle with police.
Lanis shook his head, frowned and rubbed his forehead.
“I don’t want to cause a scene here at your residence,†one officer said, in almost a whisper. “Everyone’s got cameras, and we don’t want that.â€
“Just step out for us,†an officer said. “We’ll walk you to the car.â€
They told him they had no choice.
“We have to do this,†the second officer said. “There’s really no avoiding it. We have to.â€
Lanis then started backing up. An officer tried reaching for Lanis’ arm.
At that point, the front door briefly blocked the frame of the video.
But when the body camera passed the door, it was clear that an officer was tackling Lanis.
Then screams.
“Don’t do this! Please drop the gun!†an officer shouted.
Police yelled a dozen times for him to drop the gun.
An officer used a taser on Lanis. But still he held the gun, police said.
“It’s not worth it!†police can be heard telling him.
In all, police fired 13 shots that morning. Lanis died on the wood floor of his home. He did not fire once, police said.
Body-cam footage shows a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County police officer after he fatally shot Dr. Aleksandr G. Lanis on March 21, 2025, at Lanis' home near Fenton.
The skirmish in the entryway happened so rapidly that investigators said they still don’t know where he got his gun, a 9 mm Smith & Wesson, nor how he grabbed it so quickly.
Police said Lanis’ address wasn’t flagged as a “hazard†on dispatch notations, meaning there was no belief he had a weapon at the home.
According to a court document, he was to stay away from his wife, he couldn’t own a gun, and the couple’s custody exchanges had to take place at the boy’s school or a Fenton police station.
On Thursday, the family of his estranged wife, Yukiko C. Smith, released a statement saying that they were “deeply saddened by the choices Aleksandr made in his final moments, and we are grateful to the officers who gave him every opportunity to choose a different outcome.â€
“We have learned this is often how untreated mental illness ends,†the statement continued, “and we encourage anyone struggling to listen to their loved ones and seek the help they need.â€
