A Merrillville woman was in the process of evicting her daughter and two adult grandchildren from her home after an argument between her and the daughter got heated.
Her two grandchildren, in their 20s, ended up shot.
Lenora Beach, 59, is charged with attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery.
She is in custody, held on a $9,000 cash bond.
Merrillville Police responded just before 8 p.m. Jan. 30 to the 5400 block of Maryland Street for a domestic disturbance.
Beach’s daughter screamed to responding officers that her children were wounded inside.
Beach was standing behind her grandchildren, who were on the ground. She held a cell phone and black Smith & Wesson 442 revolver.
Officers ordered her to put both down and come outside. She was arrested peacefully.
Beach’s granddaughter was shot in the side. She begged officers to “not let her die,” according to the affidavit, telling them she “could not feel her hand.”
Paramedics soon arrived. A doctor later said she was shot in her kidney.
Her grandson also appeared to be shot. A bullet lodged in his pelvis.
“She tried to attack my mom, and she shot me,” he told officers at the scene.
Police also found a 9-mm Mossberg semi-automatic pistol and Remington shotgun elsewhere in the house.
Beach was taken to the hospital — she complained of chest pains and said her daughter bit her finger.
She was released and taken to the police station.
Court records show Beach was granted an eviction order Jan. 14 to kick out her daughter, granddaughter and “other occupants.”
Beach told police in an interview that she gave her daughter a Feb. 1 deadline to leave.
That day, Beach claimed her daughter got into an argument, first about moving cars to get a U-Haul truck closer to the house. Before the shooting, they allegedly called the police on each other.
Beach said she locked the garage door and told her daughter to use the side door, which police concluded set events in motion.
They got into another argument, and Beach claimed her daughter hit her in the face. She told officers that she was “nervous,” partly since she “broke” her back after an injury as a crane operator.
He claimed her grandson grabbed her and choked her, then her granddaughter started punching her from behind.
Afterwards, she was “in shock.”
She claimed her face was covered when she pulled out the gun and pulled the trigger twice — shooting once forward and backward. Police discounted her self-defense claims, saying she didn’t have defensive wounds.
The daughter admitted biting Beach’s finger.
Her next hearing is Feb. 13.
