Shocking moment California cops shoot dead a teenage kidnapping victim
Police in California have released 2022 video of a teenage girl who was killed as she ran toward officers for help as she escaped after being kidnapped by her father.
Savannah Graziano, 15, was killed on September 27, 2022, after her father, Anthony John Graziano, 45, had murdered his estranged wife Tracy Martinez and abducted his daughter.
In the footage, Savannah was seen following cops' instructions, crawling on her hands and knees along the 15 freeway in Hesperia, California, as a deputy takes cover by a police SUV before she is shot dead in a hail of gunfire.
'Stop shooting her! He's in the car! Stop! She's OK! He's in the car! ... Stop!' the deputy pleads.
Cops had previously claimed Savannah was shot because she was wearing tactical equipment and fired back, however the footage appears to prove that she was unarmed.
The tragic video of the shooting was released Monday after journalists requested it under the California Public Records Act.
When Tracy was killed, investigators issued an AMBER Alert for the teen, and quickly responded when a civilian spotted the dad and daughter
Deputies from San Bernadino County tried to pull Anthony Graziano's truck over just before 11am when they were fired at by the father who had a semiautomatic weapon, officials with the sheriff's department said.
Authorities followed the truck for about 70 miles, as the father continued to fire at them before Graziano tried and failed to take his vehicle up an embankment. It was claimed by police at the time that Savannah may also have been firing from the vehicle.
He came to a stop on the side of the road - about 80 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
The newly released footage includes a camera from the sheriff's department helicopter and it shows Graziano attempting to go in reverse on the road as he fires again.
The 15-year-old Savannah can then be seen getting out of the car, as an officer says over the radio: 'The girl's out, the female juvie is out. She's out on the passenger side.'
She keeps a low crouch but starts moving quickly toward the officers when suddenly a gunshot rings out and the footage blurs Graziano's body.
The sheriff's department deputies were not wearing body cameras but audio was released from an officer near the girl as she was getting out.
He repeatedly yells: 'Passenger, get out! Come here! Come to me! Come, come, come... walk, walk, walk.'
Back over the radio, after the 15-year-old was shot, an officer can then be heard with a resigned 'oh, no.'
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said at the time of the shooting that it looked like Graziano was running toward deputies wearing 'tactical gear,' but the aerial footage shows that while Savannah is clearly speeding up, she's still moving in a crouch and her outfit remains unclear.
One deputy was injured by shrapnel during the firefight, Dicus said.
Officials have also suggested it's possible that Savannah fired at officers along with her father, but this remains under investigation.
Weapons, ammunition, flash-bang and smoke grenades and tactical helmets were found at the scene.
The firearms were legally owned by Graziano, who was not or probation or parole. Savannah's younger brother told investigators the siblings grew up around guns.
Savannah was pronounced dead at the scene, while her father Anthony was also eventually shot dead, though the footage doesn't show when that occurred.
'There needs to be better training so that unarmed people aren't killed,' CJ Wyatt, Savannah's uncle, told The Guardian.
'Hopefully this video can be used for training – something has to be done differently. She didn't have to die,' Tracy's brother said.
Wyatt ultimately places the blame on Savannah's 'abusive and manipulative' father, Anthony.
'She was a really sweet girl at her core, and she didn't deserve this.'
Graziano shot Martinez multiple times and also turned and fired on a nearby car with daughter Savannah in the backseat. Witnesses and two videos - one from a bystander and another from a doorbell - show she stayed still as her mother screamed.
'She's just sitting in the backseat,' Sgt. Christian Surgent said.
Authorities had previously said the teen was somewhere else during her mother´s killing and was later abducted by her father.
Martinez was able to identify her killer as Graziano before she died, Surgent said, but never mentioned her daughter being there. Neither video showed the shooting.
Family members told investigators that the couple had been going through a divorce. Martinez was rushed to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office provided no further statement or details on the shooting.
Officials previously said the deputies involved had a different view of the truck as they were in a higher elevation to where it stopped.
The deputies fired because they saw a person get out of the truck and head toward the nearest deputy, officials said, unaware he had called to her.
The incident remains under investigation by the state's Department of Justice under a law that requires that police involved in killings be named publicly.
The sheriff's department has faced increased scrutiny in recent months as its faces several wrongful arrests and death lawsuits last year.
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