This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
LOVELL—Authorities believe that a woman shot her four children at their Byron home on Monday afternoon before turning the gun on herself.
Three of the children died at the residence while the fourth was reported to be fighting for her life in a Utah hospital as of Monday evening. The children’s mother was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the head with her status unclear on Tuesday.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to all those who are affected and grieving by this extremely horrible and tragic incident,” Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn wrote in a Tuesday news release.
In an update the same day, Blackburn said the children’s mother had called 911 around 1:30 p.m. Monday and reported that her children had been shot. Though the release from the sheriff’s office didn’t name the 32-year-old woman, authorities confirmed to the Lovell Chronicle it was Tranyelle Harshman, a former Powell resident.
Harshman told dispatchers that “two children would be located upstairs in their cribs and two children would be located downstairs in their shared bedroom,” the release said. “The caller further stated she could be found in her upstairs bedroom and that she was going to do the same to herself.”
Although a dispatcher pleaded with the woman to stay on the line until first responders arrived, she “stated multiple times that she could not do that and that it was too late,” the release said, and the call was disconnected.
When personnel from the sheriff’s office, the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Lovell Police Department arrived at the scene, they “observed multiple victims of gunshots within the residence, both alive and deceased,” Blackburn wrote, with one child dying soon after they arrived.
The three deceased were identified by the sheriff’s office as girls who were 2, almost 3 and 9.
The surviving child, a 7-year-old girl, was rushed to North Big Horn Hospital in Lovell and then airlifted to Billings, according to further reporting by the Chronicle.
Once stabilized, she was flown to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City for further treatment of serious head injuries.
Tranyelle Harshman was also found alive but severely injured with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. She was transported by ground ambulance to Billings.
The two oldest girls were students at Rocky Mountain Elementary School in Cowley, and Principal Eric Honeyman sent a Monday afternoon message to staff and parents about the shooting.
“This loss will deeply affect our communities, and our thoughts are with both of these girls, their families and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” Honeyman wrote.
He added that the school had counselors available on site for anyone who might need assistance in processing the loss, and he encouraged parents to reach out for any additional resources their children may need.
“We will make every effort to help you and your child,” Honeyman wrote.
Efforts are also underway to support the girls’ family members, including their father/stepfather, Cliff Harshman, a former Powell resident.
“This devastating event has left Cliff and his loved ones reeling in grief, struggling to come to terms with the immense void left in their lives,” Brodie Bosick wrote on a GoFundMe page, adding that the community is “rallying around him to offer love, support, and financial assistance during this darkest of times.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 600 donors had contributed roughly $47,000 to the online campaign.
In Tuesday’s news release, Blackburn thanked the highway patrol, Lovell police and the other agencies that assisted the sheriff’s office — including ambulance crews from North Big Horn Hospital and Powell Valley Hospital, Cody Regional Health’s First Flight of Wyoming and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.
“The brave men and women of our local emergency service teams ran into a rapidly, intense, evolving situation selflessly to serve their community and preserve life,” Blackburn wrote.
The nightmare they witnessed “should be something that no one should have to endure,” he said.
The sheriff asked citizens in Wyoming or anywhere across the country to take a moment to thank and support all first responders.
He added that the investigation into the shooting is “open and ongoing.”
Psychotropic medications, far from being the miracle cures they are marketed as, have become a silent menace, fueling tragedies of suicide and homicide while pharmaceutical companies rake in billions. Antidepressants like SSRIs are known to increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors, particularly in children and young adults, yet they continue to be prescribed recklessly. These drugs can induce akathisia—a state of unbearable restlessness—and emotional numbing that pushes some individuals toward catastrophic actions. Worse still, these dangers are downplayed or outright buried by drug manufacturers who prioritize profits over human lives. The link between psychotropics and violence is equally damning, with countless cases of mass shootings and other violent crimes tied to individuals taking—or withdrawing from—these medications. The pharmaceutical industry’s denial of this connection is not just negligent; it’s criminal.
The entire mental health system is complicit in this disaster. Doctors hand out prescriptions like candy, often ignoring the glaring red flags of drug-induced aggression or suicidality, while regulatory agencies like the FDA turn a blind eye to the mounting evidence of harm. Families are left shattered by preventable suicides, communities devastated by acts of violence—all while the drug companies quietly settle lawsuits and move on to their next blockbuster pill. Instead of addressing the root causes of mental distress—trauma, inequality, isolation—we’ve created a culture of overmedication that sacrifices lives for convenience and profit. This is not just a failure; it’s a moral outrage. The time for excuses is over—pharmaceutical companies must be held accountable, prescribers must face stricter oversight, and society must demand real solutions to mental health care that don’t come with a side effect of death.
These poor children and their mother. Evidently, she did not think about putting them up for adoption if unable or unwilling take care of them. It appears there is an epidemic of mental illness in America as to what can be done about this will require resources to help them and a willingness on their part to be helped.
Regardless, God Bless these little ones.
Why? What led up to this terrible tragedy? Were there warning signs that this mother was in extreme distress? In rural communities all across Wyoming there are young people and adults in crisis. Do we have the mental health infrastructure that educates and encourages transparency that many in our communities need in order to seek help? Or are we continuing to keep our mouth shut because it’s none of our business. What kind of logic is that? And if neighbors, friends, or family do see something that concerns them, where do they turn? What resources do they have that listen but feel helpless and limited in their ability to get involved or offer any significant assistance?
More casualties of Wyoming gun culture
More casualties from the American mental illness epidemic. Guns have nothing to do with it.
Most suicides are impulsive and there is a great deal of empirical evidence that owning a firearm increases the risk of dying from suicide. This is not a simple example of correlation but a direct example of causation. To suggest that firearms have nothing to do with it is patently ignorant and indicative of why nothing will ever change regarding firearms or mental illness in Wyoming.
You need to look up the facts about female suicide.
Please include the link to for Brailey & Olivia. Praying for Quinn and his sweet family 😢
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-olivia-fight-after-tragic-loss
“……patently ignorant…..”
You seem to have been introduced to mr ginter
You cannot rationalize an irrational decision. Whether it be by gun, knife, driving into a lake, driving off a cliff, locking the car in the garage while the engine is running, etc, etc, etc. To suggest the gun is at fault is ignorant, no different than blaming the car, the knife, etc.
We have a mental health crisis in this country. Blaming the instrument and engaging in a raging debate over the instrument will not alleviate the irrational decision brought on by mental illness.
At the end of the day, it is tragic for the family, the survivors, the first responders.
Well, guns have something to do with it. Three kids died from gunshots.
Well, a gun was involved so ………