Newly released video shows the moment an unarmed teenage girl was fatally shot by police in Hesperia, California, after she had allegedly been kidnapped by her dad.
Savannah Graziano, 15, watched her father, Anthony, shoot and kill her mother—his estranged wife—outside a school on Sept. 26, 2022, after which the 45-year-old reportedly abducted the girl and went on the run. An Amber Alert was issued, and cops tasked with rescuing Savannah spotted Graziano’s truck the following day.
After a high-speed chase lasting some 70 miles, San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies boxed in the vehicle on an embankment off a freeway in Hesperia, roughly 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Shots were fired at the pursuing deputies from inside the truck, some of which authorities claimed had come from the passenger side, where Savannah was sitting.
In video footage released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department pursuant to a records request, officers can be heard saying that bullets are flying and telling others to “take your cover.”
“Shots are fired, shots are fired,” one says over the radio.
Savannah is then ordered out of the truck by police, and she is seen in the video emerging on the highway shoulder. She was reportedly wearing tactical gear, though her specific attire is not clearly visible in the footage.
“Passenger, get out!” one of the cops is heard yelling. “Passenger get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Passenger, get out! Get out!”
“She’s out,” an officer can be heard saying over the radio. “She’s out on the passenger side.”
“Come here! Come here! Come to me! Come to me!” another officer instructs Savannah. “Come, come, come, come! Walk, walk, walk, walk!”
As Savannah begins walking toward police, she is struck down by gunfire. The deputy who was shouting at her to walk towards him now begins to yell at his fellow officers: “Stop! Stop shooting her! He’s in the car! Stop! She’s OK! He’s in the car! Stop!”
“Oh, no,” the police dispatcher can be heard saying.
Savannah was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her father was shot and killed at the scene. Deputies said they recovered numerous guns, hundreds of rounds of ammo, flash bangs, smoke grenades, tactical helmets, and body armor from Graziano’s truck.
Savannah’s uncle told The Guardian that his niece “didn’t have to die.”
“There needs to be better training so that unarmed people aren’t killed,” CJ Wyatt told the outlet. “Hopefully this video can be used for training—something has to be done differently.”
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