A judge barred Alanna Dawn Bilbo from contacting the wounded man and from possessing a firearm.
ALTO, Texas — A Cherokee County magistrate issued a protective order after deputies accused a 33-year-old woman of shooting her live-in boyfriend twice during a Monday evening dispute at a home near Alto.
Alanna Dawn Bilbo remained in the Cherokee County Jail on a $150,000 bond after being charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury to a person in a relationship. The court order bars Bilbo from contacting the victim for three months and prohibits her from possessing a firearm. The order followed a sheriff’s investigation that began as a report of a shooting and later centered on an argument between the couple.
The legal restrictions now define the early stage of the case. They separate Bilbo from the man authorities described as her live-in boyfriend while the criminal charge moves forward. The order also addresses the weapon issue at the center of the allegation. Deputies said the shooting involved a .22 caliber revolver. Officials have not publicly said whether the revolver was seized, where it was found, or whether investigators have completed any firearm testing. The protective order is separate from the felony charge, but it gives the court immediate control over contact and gun possession while the case is pending.
The case began around 7 p.m. Monday when Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies went to a residence on County Road 2813 in the Alto area after a shooting was reported. The wounded man was flown to a hospital in Tyler. Cherokee County Sheriff Brent Dickson said the man was in stable condition as of Tuesday. Authorities did not name the victim in the initial reports. They also did not give a detailed medical update beyond saying he survived and was stable after being shot in the head and neck.
According to the probable cause account, detectives spoke with Bilbo after she was advised of her rights. She told them she and her live-in boyfriend had been arguing about their relationship. Investigators said the argument escalated while Bilbo stood in the doorway of the residence and the man stood outside near the stairway. The probable cause statement says the man yelled for her to shoot him. Authorities said Bilbo then fired the revolver, striking him between the eyes. After he turned and held his face, investigators said, she fired again and hit him in the back of the neck.
Dickson said the shooting was initially reported as an accident. That detail may become important as investigators compare the first emergency call, statements at the scene and the physical evidence. Public reports do not say who described the shooting as accidental or what was said to dispatchers. They also do not say whether investigators found signs of a struggle inside the home, whether any neighbors heard the shots, or whether there were other people at the property. Those gaps leave much of the event timeline to be filled by court records, medical documentation and witness interviews.
The sheriff also said Bilbo and the victim were both allegedly using drugs when the shooting happened. Officials did not identify the alleged substances, say whether any drugs were recovered, or announce a separate narcotics charge. The statement adds another issue for investigators, who may have to determine whether intoxication affected either person’s statements, memory or actions. It also may factor into how prosecutors describe the dispute if the case reaches a grand jury or later court hearing.
County Road 2813 sits in a rural part of Cherokee County near Alto, a small town in the Piney Woods region of East Texas. The setting matters because violent calls in such areas can draw county deputies, air medical transport and outside hospital care rather than a city police response. In this case, the victim was not treated only at the scene or at a nearby clinic. He was flown to Tyler, a larger medical hub, after suffering wounds authorities described as serious. Officials did not say which hospital received him. The charge against Bilbo does not decide guilt. It begins a court process in which prosecutors must prove the accusation and the defense may challenge the evidence. Early records did not include a plea or a public statement from Bilbo’s attorney. The next steps could include a bond hearing, a formal charging review, a grand jury presentation or additional filings that describe the evidence in more detail. Medical records may be especially important because the charge alleges serious bodily injury rather than a lesser assault.
The protective order gives the case an immediate boundary while those steps unfold. It keeps Bilbo away from the victim, limits access to firearms and sets a three-month period for the no-contact terms described in public records. Any later court order could change those conditions. For now, the sheriff’s office has described a domestic argument, two alleged shots from a revolver and a surviving victim whose condition was stable the day after the shooting.
As of the latest public accounts, Bilbo remained jailed in Cherokee County and the victim remained the central witness to a shooting that authorities first heard about as an accident. The next milestone is expected through court records showing whether prosecutors pursue the felony charge by indictment or another formal filing.
Author note: Last updated June 18, 2026.