THE TRUE STORY OF THE HAWTHORNE HILL SHOOTING

What Happened at Hawthorne Hill? Dressage trainer Michael Barisone pulled a gun on his student at his New Jersey training facility in August 2019. In August 2019, a confrontation inside a quiet New Jersey horse barn ended in two gunshots and later, national headlines.

Olympic dressage coach Michael Barisone shot his student and tenant, Lauren Kanarek, twice in the chest at his Long Valley training facility, Hawthorne Hill. She survived. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder. Nearly three years later, a jury found Barisone not guilty by reason of insanity after hearing 11 days of testimony about a relationship that had deteriorated long before the shooting. He was also acquitted on weapons counts.

Kanarek moved to Hawthorne Hill in 2018 with her partner, Rob Goodwin, to train under Barisone and board her horse on the property. At the time, Barisone was one of the most recognizable figures in American dressage. He had competed internationally and coached riders at the Olympic level, so training with him offered access to a small and competitive world. It isn’t uncommon for riders to live where they train at this high level; coaches sometimes serve as instructors, landlords and gatekeepers all at once.

According to a criminal complaint, police responded multiple times to what officers described as “landlord-tenant related issues” at the property in the months before the shooting. By mid-2019, the tension between Barisone and Kanarek moved online. Kanarek posted videos describing alleged harassment and surveillance at the farm. She called Barisone "racist, homophobic" and "antisemitic" online, allegations he denied. Barisone later argued those posts contributed to what his attorneys described as mounting psychological strain.

In a new documentary about the case, Kanarek said the conflict centered on harassment, bullying and an abuse of power. Barisone told investigators he felt threatened and pressured to remove the couple from the property following a fire inspection. His legal team later argued those pressures contributed to a mental health crisis.

On August 7, 2019, gunshots rang out on the property. Police were dispatched to Hawthorne Hill shortly after 2 p.m. and found Kanarek with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. According to the criminal complaint, she identified Barisone as the shooter during a 911 call, telling authorities, “Michael Barisone shot me” and “He shot me twice.” Goodwin tackled Barisone during the confrontation, investigators said. As officers removed Barisone from the scene, he reportedly said, “I had a good life.” Kanarek survived after emergency surgery.

At trial, Barisone’s attorneys did not dispute that he fired the gun. Instead, they argued he was temporarily insane at the time of the shooting. Barisone later said he had “zero” recollection of pulling the trigger. Prosecutors argued the evidence pointed to intentional violence after months of escalating conflict. Jurors heard testimony about repeated disputes on the property and reviewed police responses to earlier incidents. They also examined Kanarek’s videos and social media posts. Coverage at the time described the dispute as unusually prolonged and tense, and the conflict between Barisone and his tenants created a “toxic atmosphere” at the farm in the weeks before the shooting.

 An expert called by the prosecution, John Jay College of Criminal Justice psychology professor Dr. Louis Schlesinger, testified there had been “interpersonal problems” and a “longstanding conflict” between Barisone, Kanarek and her partner before the shooting.

After about 18 hours of deliberation, a New Jersey jury found Barisone not guilty by reason of insanity on charges related to the shooting of Kanarek. He was also acquitted of charges tied to Goodwin. The verdict meant jurors accepted that Barisone fired the gun but concluded his mental state prevented him from forming criminal intent under New Jersey law.

He was sent to the Ann Klein Forensic Center in Trenton, N.J., for 30 days for psychiatric treatment following the ruling. Kanarek survived the shooting but suffered life-threatening injuries to her left lung that required extensive medical care and landed her in a medically induced coma. As of 2023, she’d begun riding horses again.

In December 2025, the U.S. Equestrian Federation deemed Barisone permanently ineligible to partake in the sport due to sexual harassment and emotional misconduct...