Lauren Kanarek Slams Netflix Doc About Shooting That Almost Killed Her

Lauren Kanarek -- the woman who survived a shooting by her trainer, Olympic equestrian Michael Barisone -- says she's suffered three times because of the incident ... when she was shot, when he was acquitted, and now, as a streaming giant is telling her story ... according to an open letter she just published.

Barisone was found not guilty by reason of insanity for firing the bullets that nearly killed Kanarek ... and as the incident is being retold in the documentary "Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill," Kanarek claims the film's production company Propagate "distorted the truth in the interest of ratings."

In the letter, titled "The Systems Failed Me, But I Will Not Let Them Silence Me," Kanarek says, point-blank, "On August 7, 2019, a man I knew and once respected drew a gun and shot me twice in the chest at point-blank range. That man was Michael Barisone, my former trainer in the equestrian sport of dressage."

The moments that followed were pure agony, according to Lauren, who recalls her ordeal: flatlining twice in the ambulance on the way to the hospital ... then being in a medically induced coma for weeks ... and that was just the beginning of her harrowing battle. She later had to endure being painted as the instigator to the incident that almost killed her, Lauren writes, as Barisone claimed Kanarek harassed him online.

She claims "judicial charades" influenced the jury to find him temporarily insane.

And get this ... Lauren suggests the whole thing could've been avoided if people had listened to her complaints of being afraid of Barisone before the shooting. But she says while everyone ignored her, Barisone was procuring the gun that almost killed her.

Now, she says it hurts her immeasurably that some are actually blaming her for the shooting, writing, "I was the victim. I am the survivor. Lies will not erase the truth."

"Untold: The Shooting at Hawthorne Hill" premieres on Netflix April 21.

Edward J. Bilinkas attorney for Michael Barisone tell TMZ... "We dispute all of Ms. Kanarek’s claims, which we have done from day one. The evidence that was allowed to be seen by the jury was enough to convince them that the psychological attack on Mr. Barisone was in fact the cause of his mental breakdown."

Edward's statement continues saying, "Netflix was provided with pages of documentation that was not allowed to be shown during the trial which proves what the truth really is. Mr. Barisone is anxious for the truth of what happened to finally be told."