“Come to me! Come to me! Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk,” the deputy is heard instructing Savannah, according to newly released audio of the encounter. Seconds later, the vice chancellor is heard frantically calling out to the others.
“Hey! Stop!” The deputy is heard saying, “Stop shooting her, he's in the car! Stop!”
It was too late, and Savannah was shot dead.
Now, newly released video and audio recordings from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department were obtained through the agency's prior public records requests. Posted them onlineThe past 18 months have clarified a long-standing question about the fatality — and raised many new ones.
The sheriff's department on Tuesday declined to comment further on the case and referred questions to the California Department of Justice, which is investigating the shooting. The department previously said it would investigate whether responding deputies followed shooting protocol. The state DOJ declined to discuss the case Tuesday referred to Reporters to a 2022 news release announcing the investigation.
Hours after the Sept. 27, 2022, shooting in the high desert town of Hesperia, San Bernardino County sheriff's officials cited preliminary information and described Savannah as a “participant” who suggested that deputies might open fire on him as they approached him. Father's car.
These records provide a glimpse into how differently representatives on the ground and in the air viewed the unfolding scene, and how confusion arose over Savannah's role.
Amber Alert for teenage girl before shooting, highway chase after she was spotted west of Barstow. A gas station attendant called police to report that he sold Savannah two sodas and saw her get into Graziano's pickup truck.
As Graziano sped down a freeway, he shot at patrol cars, disabling one, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said at a news conference the day of the incident. At times, a deputy on the radio said Graziano was speeding over 113 miles per hour on the highway.
In the chase, a deputy radioed the shots from the passenger window. The helicopter unit reported that shots were fired from the driver's side window.
A witness driving on the highway saw gunfire from passengers.
“Someone was still driving the truck so it must have been someone else,” the witness said, according to an audio recording released by the Sheriff's Department.
In a video produced by the Sheriff's Department, the agency noted that it has not confirmed that shots were fired from the passenger side, and said investigators are still looking into whether that happened.
After failing to make a lock, Graziano finds himself, and a firefight ensues. As the bullets flew, Savannah — wearing a plate vest and a tactical helmet — got out of her father's vehicle.
A deputy was heard calling Savannah to come to him, according to audio captured by a belt recorder from a deputy standing next to the woman. But as the woman approaches, the other deputies start shooting. The deputy yells that Savannah's father is still in the vehicle and tells him to stop filming.
“She's fine! He's in the car … stop,” said the deputy. He was too late: Savannah was seriously injured and rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. His father died on the spot.
The release of footage of the Graziano shooting comes as the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is already facing intense scrutiny from last month's shooting, in which deputies killed a 15-year-old boy with autism.
Two deputies shot and killed Ryan Gainer at his home after Dean approached a deputy with a gardening shovel. Footage of the encounter was released on March 13 and drew outrage in the community, as well as condemnation from Gaynor's family.
“I get it,” David Lacy, an attorney for the Gaynor family, told The Washington Post in March. “It may be annoying to an officer, but it's not meant to be [they] Shoot the 15-year-old.
Despite body-camera footage of the Gaynor shooting, San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies don't have the technology in 2022; Aerial video taken from a helicopter is the only surviving video of the Graziano incident. After several delays, the dept Created body-camera project – Creates the last sheriff's departments in the region to do so.