A teenager who was in the middle of being rescued from her kidnapper was shot to death by police.
Savannah Graziano, 15, was killed along the 15 freeway in Hesperia, California, on September 27, 2022, after her father, Anthony John Graziano had murdered his estranged wife Tracy Martinez and abducted his daughter.
Shocking footage shows the teenager following instructions from the police, crawling on her hands and knees along while a deputy takes cover by a police SUV.
However, she was shot dead in a hail of gunfire while the deputy pleaded for his colleagues to stop shooting.
Savannah can be seen crawling towards a police car
San Bernadino County Sheriff's Office
It was previously claimed that Savannah was shot because she was wearing tactical equipment and fired back, however, the footage appears to prove that she was unarmed when she was shot to death.
In the video, a deputy can be heard saying: "Stop shooting her! He's in the car! Stop! She's OK! He's in the car!... Stop!"
Officials with the sheriff's department said that deputies from San Bernadino County had tried to pull Anthony Graziano's truck over just before 11am when they were fired at by the father who had a semi-automatic weapon.
Authorities followed the truck for about 70 miles, as the father continued to fire at them before Graziano tried and failed to take his vehicle up an embankment.
It was claimed by police at the time that Savannah may also have been firing from the vehicle.
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Police attending the scene
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In the footage, Savannah can then be seen getting out of the car, as an officer says over the radio: "The girl's out, the female juvie is out. She's out on the passenger side."
She keeps a low crouch but starts moving quickly toward the officers when suddenly a gunshot rings out and Graziano's body is blurred.
The sheriff's department deputies were not wearing body cameras but audio was released from an officer near the girl as she was getting out.
He repeatedly yells: "Passenger, get out! Come here! Come to me! Come, come, come... walk, walk, walk."
Back over the radio, after the 15-year-old was shot, an officer can then be heard with a resigned "oh, no."
The scene following the shooting
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GB News has approached San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office for a comment.
Officials previously said the deputies involved had a different view of the truck as they were in a higher elevation to where it stopped.
The deputies fired because they saw a person get out of the truck and head toward the nearest deputy, officials said, unaware he had called to her.
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.
The sheriff's department has faced increased scrutiny in recent months as its faces several wrongful arrests and death lawsuits last year.
