Panhandle Grandmother Murdered in Texas

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) – A Potter County, Texas, sheriff’s deputy

killed a 58-year-old gunman suspected of fatally shooting an

Oklahoma grandmother who was protecting her 12-year-old

granddaughter from being kidnapped near Bushland.

Sheriff Brian Thomas said Wednesday that the gunman tried and

failed to abduct a 31-year-old woman and the 12-year-old before he

snatched an 11-year-old from a street as she walked with a friend.

Police say Gary Don Carner of Amarillo fatally shot 63-year-old

Sharrel Blankenbaker of Felt, Okla., as she tried to protect her

granddaughter from being kidnapped at a truck stop about a

half-mile away from where the younger girl was then taken Tuesday

night.

The deputy, who has been placed on administrative leave, shot

Carner after the 11-year-old jumped from the man’s pickup not far

from where she was snatched.