The firm grip of horror took hold of multiple Wyoming families after a mother shot her four daughters before turning the gun on herself.

Midafternoon on Monday, Tranyelle Harshman, 32, called 911 to report the gunshots she fired at her own home on East Shoshone Avenue in Byron — a tiny town located roughly 415 miles northwest of Cheyenne — and some 90 miles due south of Billings, Montana.

The woman went on to report that her daughters had been shot, according to a press release issued by the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office.

“When dispatchers asked the status of the gunshot victims the female stated that she believed them to be deceased,” the sheriff’s office said.

A Montana man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his wife and a bartender who he suspected were having an affair.

Kraig Walter Benson was sentenced to 140 years in prison on Friday for the deaths of his wife, Jenny Benson, 49, and bartender Logan Gardner, 43. He was found guilty in October 2024 of two counts of deliberate homicide.

Jenny Benson’s father told the killer directly that he hoped he leads a miserable life in prison, while the defendant’s daughter said she didn’t feel safe with her father in the world.

Body camera footage from the Cincinnati suburb of Liberty Township obtained by Law&Crime shows the frantic moments as first responders worked to save an infant girl who had been shot in the head. They soon arrested the shooter — her own grandmother, Mia Desiree Harris.

Remarkably, the girl survived, though the injury had permanent consequences for her health. Defendant Harris recently pleaded guilty to a count of felonious assault. She is currently serving a sentence of nine to 12 years in prison and is eligible for parole in December 2032.

“During the incident Harris shot at several family members before intentionally shooting the child,” the Butler County Sheriff’s Office wrote in the news release.

Witnesses urgently told authorities about the badly injured baby and about Harris being the shooter.

“Mia Harris. Mia Harris,” a woman told law enforcement in footage dated Dec. 9, 2023. “Get her right now.”

A Texas woman was recently released from jail after she allegedly lured her longtime boyfriend to a field and then shot him repeatedly.

Alexys Pinto, 23, stands accused of one count of aggravated assault over the incident that left Elvis Munoz, 24, with multiple gunshot wounds across his body — and a bullet in his back for months.

The shooting occurred on Sept. 5. The victim, in recovery, has been struggling to come up with a reason for the violence ever since.

Two friends in Florida played a game in which they tested each other’s readiness to face real danger. As it turned out, the only threat was to themselves.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday arrested 25-year-old Brad Markey-Perez after he allegedly shot his pal by mistake, authorities said. Deputies responded on March 20 to a shooting at a home in Orange City. They found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the jaw. Paramedics took him to the hospital.

Markey-Perez told deputies he and the victim like to have “drills” where they “practice with each other the importance of being vigilant of their surroundings, especially while armed with a firearm,” a probable cause arrest affidavit said.

“Both own firearms and they would have ‘drills’ where one would try and get the jump on the other as a form of training. These ‘drills’ are usually performed with unloaded firearms or using ‘cap’ style ammunition that is a nonfunctioning round,” the affidavit said.

An armed Walgreens employee shot a pregnant woman he suspected of stealing lipstick seven times in a parking lot confrontation last year that prompted an emergency cesarean section to deliver the baby and lifelong health problems, a new lawsuit says.

Travonsha L. Ferguson, 25, was shot on April 12, 2023, at the Walgreens store at 2500 Gallatin Road in Nashville.

It happened when the employee, who didn’t identify himself, aggressively confronted, cursed and screamed at Ferguson and her friend about the alleged stolen merchandise, and Ferguson sprayed the employee with mace “in fear of imminent bodily harm to Baby Ferguson and herself,” court documents obtained by HuffPost said.

The shooting prompted an emergency cesarean section to deliver the baby prematurely. The boy survived, but the now 11-month-old has a heart defect, and his mother requires the use of a colostomy bag, court documents said.

The employee who shot her was terminated. He was not charged with a crime after he claimed self-defense, saying he didn’t know if Ferguson and her friend were armed and he feared for his safety and didn’t know if they were armed, police said in a news release.

“I would believe the situation of self-defense if one shot, but it’s impossible to shoot seven times with such accuracy if you’ve been maced — which he was not,” said L. Chris Stewart, Ferguson’s attorney, in a news conference, local CBS affiliate WTVF reported. “We believe it was sprayed at him or in the air when they were surprised — as any pregnant mother would do who gets surprised by somebody running up on them screaming slurs.”

Police said the bloodshed happened when another employee notified the store team leader that two females were stealing items. The team leader told police he started recording the women on his cellphone when he saw them placing items into a cart and a large over-the-shoulder bag, then followed them outside when they left without paying for the merchandise, police said.

He told police he made his way to the rear of the car as the women loaded items into the trunk. He pulled his semi-automatic pistol and fired after one of the women sprayed him with mace, authorities said he told investigators.

After the shooting, the women drove off, and he called 911.

The woman who was with Ferguson dropped her off at a hospital and drove away, officials said.

Ferguson was charged with assault and theft of $1,000 or less, court records show. Her attorney would not comment on the charges, according to local ABC affiliate WKRN-TV.

But he said shoplifting accusation or not, following her to the parking lot and shooting was “negligent and against policy, provided the employee had been trained properly, and Walgreens must be held accountable,” local NBC affiliate WSMV reported.

“Ms Ferguson did nothing at all to deserve to be shot this many times. A witness even said it sounded like the full clip was emptied,” Stewart said, WTVF reported.

Shantanica Ferguson said her daughter did not deserve this.

“It’s been a long ride, and it’s not fair,” she said. “She deserves justice.”

Walgreens did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime, but in a statement after the shooting, the company said, “The safety of our patients, customers and team members is our top priority, and violence of any kind will not be tolerated at our stores. We take this matter seriously and are cooperating with local authorities.”

 

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