Wyoming Mother Tells 911 Operator Her Four Daughters Were Shot, Before Turning Gun on Herself: Sheriff

32-year-old Tranyelle Harshman succumbed to her injuries after shooting herself in the head on Monday in her Bryon, WY home. Authorities were made aware of the apparent murder-suicide around 1:30pm that day, after Harshman called 911.

According to the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office, Harshman called their Safety Communications Center “reporting gunshots that occurred inside her home and further reported her daughters had been shot. When dispatchers asked the status of the gunshot victims the female stated that she believed them to be deceased.”

The woman also allegedly reported “the locations of the victims,” two of whom were found upstairs in their cribs and two in their shared bedroom downstairs. “The caller further stated she could be found in her upstairs bedroom and that she was going to do the same to herself,” said the sheriff.

The dispatcher reportedly “pleaded with the female caller over the phone … to remain on the line until responding units arrived,” though Harshman allegedly “stated multiple times that she could not do that and that it was too late.” The call was then disconnected, before authorities got to the scene.

When they did arrive “within minutes” of the call, they found two dead children, ages 2 and 9, with gunshot wounds to the head. Two other children, aged 2 and 7, were still alive, also with gunshot wounds to the head. The 2-year-old girl died on the scene, while the 7-year-old child was taken to a hospital for live saving measures, before being air lifted to another hospital for advanced care.

Officials also found Harshman with “signs of life” in her bedroom, following a single gunshot wound to the head. She was taken to the hospital but she died on Tuesday, Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn told Cowboy State Daily.

Blackburn also said that, as of Tuesday, the 7-year-old girl was still in critical condition following surgery and her family was “cautiously optimistic.”

On a GoFundMe page raising money for the father and stepmother of the surviving 7-year-old girl and the 9-year-old child who died, the organizer shared she suffered a “severe traumatic brain injury and is fighting for her life.”

“If she does pull through this, she and the family have a very long road ahead of them, a lot of unknown right now. This loss and hurt is unimaginable,” added the fundraiser.

Per AP, friends told the Scripps News Group that Harshman struggled with mental health issues, including post-partum depression.

“Everything can change in an instant,” Harshman’s friend Briana Baker told the outlet. “Never allow yourself to think, ‘It couldn’t be me.’ Stay humble and kind. You never know what someone is struggling with inside of their mind. Tranyelle was not the monster this tragedy makes her seem to be. Her loved ones don’t want her to be remembered for her darkest moments. She was sweet, loving, and funny. Her children were her main focus in life.”