Teenage Girl Shot Dead By Police As She Tried To Escape Armed Kidnapper
A teenage girl was tragically shot dead by police as she tried to escape an armed kidnapper.
A video of Savannah Graziano’s final moments has been released and it’s left the internet heartbroken.
The fatal incident took place in 2022, but the footage is now available to the public and it’s been said it delivers ‘insight into the unfortunate events’.
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The 15-year-old had been living with her father, Anthony Graziano, in his truck and hotels for weeks before the incident, according to the Associated Press, with no allegations of wrongdoing by Graziano.
However, officials put out an Amber Alert – warning the US public of child abduction – for Savannah, following the shooting of her mother the day before the chase unfolded on September 27, 2022.
The teenager’s father was described as the main suspect behind the killing.
Authorities have now questioned whether Savannah went with her father willingly.
Audio and video clips of the incident have now been made available in response to public records requests made by the Associated Press and other media outlets.
Deputies did not wear body-worn cameras on the day of the incident, however, video footage was recorded by sheriff’s helicopters and witness dashboard cameras.
The teenager was involved in a car chase alongside her father, with footage showing his truck speeding down a freeway.
Narration over the clips says someone inside the vehicle was shooting at the police. The alleged shooter is unclear.
The miles-long chase ends with Graziano surrounded by police cars at the side of the freeway near Hesperia, California.
The narration then claims there is an ‘extensive exchange of gunfire’.
The video, which was first published by The Guardian, reveals that Savannah was just moments away from safety when she was killed.
It’s claimed that the teenager was wearing ‘tactical gear and a helmet’, though this can’t be made out in the footage.
A deputy, who is behind a sheriff’s SUV, repeatedly calls out to the 15-year-old: “Passenger, get out!” and “Come to me, come to me!”
However, as Savannah rises from a crouch and begins walking towards the deputy, others at the scene open fire.
The deputy who was coaxing the teenager calls out: “Stop! Stop shooting her! He’s in the car! Stop!”
The sheriff’s department says the deputy’s shouts were not broadcast over the radio but that his belt recorder captured the audio.
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Savannah was taken to hospital but died from her injuries. The teenager was unarmed when she was shot.
Her father, who was also fatally hit, was declared dead at the scene, according to the narration.
It’s been reported that multiple weapons and body armour had been found in his vehicle.
The incident remains under an independent investigation by California’s Department of Justice, and the names of the officers involved have not been released.
For months after the shooting, officials would not say whether it was Savannah’s father or deputies who killed the teenager.
However, in the new video it says the father and daughter ‘were struck by deputy rounds and died of their injuries’.
San Bernardino Sheriff Shannon Dicus says in a statement: “My hope is that this video will be watched in its entirety and provide insight into the unfortunate events that unfolded that day.”
CJ Wyatt, Savannah’s uncle, acknowledges the confusion and chaos officers faced in managing the situation. However, he firmly states that his niece should not have been shot.
He tells The Guardian: “There needs to be better training so that unarmed people aren’t killed.
“Hopefully this video can be used for training – something has to be done differently. She didn’t have to die.
“She was a really sweet girl at her core, and she didn’t deserve this.”
Watch the harrowing footage here…
