A 15-year-old girl who had been kidnapped was shot and killed by police as she tried to run to them for help.
The shocking incident was caught on video – and released this week following journalists’s requests – showing a deputy pleading with other officers to stop shooting.
Savannah Graziano, 15, was killed by the San Bernadino County, California officers on September 27, 2022.
The teen’s father, Anthony John Graziano, 45, had earlier murdered his estranged wife Tracy Martinez and then abducted Savannah.
Footage shows Savannah slowly moving towards the police along the 15 Freeway in Hesperia when gunfire breaks out and she is shot by the cops.
The video shows that the youngster was following the cops’ instructions, and appears to disprove the claims police made that she was wearing tactical equipment when they shot her.
One deputy can be heard urging the others to stop shooting. Shouting: “Stop shooting her. He’s in the car. Stop. She’s ok. He’s in the car. Stop!”
After Anthony John Graziano killed his wife, an AMBER Alert was issued for Savannah.
Police quickly responded when a member of the public spotted the father and daughter.
Police chased Graziano’s truck while he fired at them with a semiautomatic weapon, according to the sheriff’s department.
He then tried and failed to drive his vehicle up a hill and stopped on the side of the road – about 80 miles from the centre of Los Angeles – before the teen got out of the passenger side.
She stays low but starts moving quickly towards the officers who are telling her to “come here.. walk walk walk.. come to me.,” but suddenly, a gunshot is heard and the video blurs Graziano’s body.
The police deputies weren’t wearing body cameras but audio was shared from an officer near the girl as she was getting out.
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.
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