A 15-year-old teen who went on the run with her father who she saw kill her mother the day before was shot dead by cops earlier this week after a wild-west style shootout.
Savannah Graziano from Southern California sat silently in the back seat of her dad’s pick-up truck as he rang the doorbell of their home and shot her mother dead. The girl made no attempt to warn or help her mom as the woman screamed before she was murdered.
“She’s just sitting in the backseat,” said Sgt. Christian Surgent.
Cops initially thought Savannah’s father, Anthony John Graziano had forcefully abducted his daughter before going on the run with the girl in his truck, but cops have now said that she was a willing accomplice and had engaged in a shootout with police.
The girl’s mom, Tracy Martinez, 45, had reportedly tried to escape before she was fatally shot, but Graziano run out of the truck wielding a handgun. He shot Martinez multiple times before shooting at a passing vehicle, but no one else sustained any injuries. The mom was rushed to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The couple had reportedly been going through a divorce at the time of the murder.
The Father and daughter then went on the run in the truck and a lengthy highspeed police chase ensued. Bullets – either fired by Anthony or his daughter – were constantly being fired from the truck at trailing cops. Several rounds were fired on cop cars, one was put off the road from the damage while bullets shattered another vehicle’s windshield.
“The suspect was firing back at our deputies the entire time,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus.
Gunshots could be heard resounding around the area as helicopters circled overhead and Anthony, at one point, took the white pickup off-road in an attempt to outrun the law.
Exclusively obtained video of todays shootout after the pursuit in Hesperia. You can hear the bullets whizzing by. pic.twitter.com/DPGvgSzzO8
— Traffic News Los Angeles (@TrafficNewsLA) September 27, 2022
The truck eventually came to a standstill around 35 miles away from the murder scene on Main Street overpass in Victorville after police shut down the southbound lanes of the highway and the deadly, desert gun battle began.
Anthony was shot dead inside the truck while Savannah, wearing military-style tactical gear including a heavy-duty armored vest and a bullet-proof helmet, got out of the vehicle and ran towards cops who shot her down.
The girl was taken to hospital but died of her injuries in transport. Because Savannah had been unarmed when she was disabled by cops, an investigation into her death is underway, but given the circumstances, very few would say that cops had any other option but to immobilize the threat before them.
Cops also reported that “evidence suggests that Savannah Graziano was a participant in shooting at our deputies” over the course of the car chase and subsequent shootout.
There is still no known motive for the murder of Savannah’s mom, but authorities have noted that she had been divorcing her father. A search of the family’s Fontana home and storage unit revealed numerous weapons including AR-15 rifles, handguns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, smoke grenades and tactical gear.
This story syndicated with permission from Jo Marney – For the Love of News
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