According to a press release from the Big Horn County, Wyoming Sheriff’s Office issued the day after the incident, a woman and one of her daughters survived the shooting, although their current conditions were unknown as of Tuesday. In the tragic event, three girls—a 9-year-old and two 2-year-olds—lost their lives, while the 32-year-old mother and a 7-year-old girl were found still alive.
Initially, on Monday afternoon, the sheriff’s office reported that “multiple people” had been shot at the residence, with at least one fatality, though they did not immediately clarify the relationships between those involved.
The woman’s sister, Savannah Rose, later informed MTN News on Tuesday that her sister, Tranyelle Harshman, had shot her daughters before turning the gun on herself. Rose mentioned that one of the surviving daughters, Olivia, remains in a Salt Lake City hospital where she is sedated yet still responsive to some stimulation.
In response to the tragedy, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched to support the husband and father, Cliff Harshman.
The sheriff’s office detailed that the incident was first reported around 1:30 p.m. on Monday via a 911 call made by a woman who described hearing gunshots inside a home and reported that her daughters had been shot. During the call, she believed that her children were already dead and specified that two of the girls were upstairs in their cribs while the other two were in a shared bedroom downstairs. She also informed the dispatcher that she was in an upstairs bedroom and intended to kill herself. Despite the dispatcher’s repeated pleas for her to remain on the line until help arrived, she repeatedly refused, and the call eventually disconnected.
Responding officers from the sheriff’s department and local law enforcement arrived within minutes at the residence on the 200 block of East Shoshone Street. Upon entry, they found that two children—aged 2 and 9—had died from gunshot wounds to the head, and two others—a 2-year-old and a 7-year-old—had similar injuries but were still alive. The 32-year-old woman was located in an upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head yet remained alive. Sadly, the 2-year-old who was initially found alive later succumbed to her injuries.
Both the surviving child and the woman were subsequently taken to North Big Horn Hospital for further treatment.