15-year-old kidnapping victim Savannah Graziano was fatally shot by police in California while following instructions to go towards them.
Footage shows the moments a rescue attempt turned to tragedy as police in San Bernardino, Calif., shot and killed a teenage kidnapping victim.
Recently released helicopter footage captured the Sept. 27, 2022, incident, where the father of 15-year-old Savannah Graziano, who had killed his estranged wife, led police on a high-speed chase on a freeway before officers immobilized the vehicle with gunfire.
“Passenger, get out! Passenger, get out!” an officer instructed Graziano, adding, “Come here! Come here! Come to me; come to me!”
At that point, as Graziano attempted to flee the vehicle and run towards police as instructed by an officer she was reportedly caught in crossfire and fatally struck, as one deputy can be heard yelling at fellow officers, “STOP! STOP SHOOTING HER! HE’S IN THE CAR! STOP!”
As explained by NBC News, the footage contradicts the department’s official narrative about the shooting at the time and clarifies details concerning the situation:
After the shooting, [San Bernardino County] Sheriff Shannon Dicus said that a person believed to be Savannah had gotten out of the passenger side of the vehicle wearing tactical gear and that evidence suggested she was a “participant in shooting at our deputies.”
However, newly released video from the incident doesn’t show the teen in tactical gear, and it reveals she was obeying deputies’ instructions to approach them.
Graziano’s father, Anthony John Graziano, 45, was also shot and killed during the altercation.
The California Department of Justice is currently investigating the case.
