A video made public undermines the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, east of Los Angeles. A video dated September 2022 shows a teenage girl, the victim of a kidnapping, killed by the Californian police who were supposed to rescue her, after an eventful chase with the father of the 15-year-old girl. Savannah Graziano was in fact shot dead by several San Bernardino County sheriff’s officers, east of Los Angeles. Her father Anthony Graziano had kidnapped her and killed her mother a day earlier.
The video, shot from a law enforcement helicopter, shows a chase with this man, driving at more than 175 km/h. During this frantic chase, several shots were fired from his pickup. Then the car ends up taking a highway ramp in the wrong direction and stops in the brush.
The voice on the radio says “Oh no”, “Stop!” »
The video then shows Savannah Graziano get out of the passenger seat and walk toward an officer who calls her, according to the audio recording from her microphone. ” Come here ! Come towards me ! Come, come, come, (…) walk, walk, walk,” the police officer told him. At the same time, a radio message apparently coming from the helicopter alerted the agents on the ground of the presence of the teenager. “The girl is outside. (…) She is outside, on the passenger side,” warns the radio.
In the video, the teenager first crouches on the ground for several seconds, then gets up and walks towards a group of police officers. We then hear a gunshot and the voice on the radio say, “Oh no. » “Stop! », shouts the agent who called the teenager, addressing his colleagues. “Stop shooting him!” He’s in the car! »
The young girl was rescued, to no avail. She ultimately succumbed to her injuries a short time later in hospital. His father was killed on the spot. Several guns and body armor were found in his car, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to the San Bernardino County sheriff. Authorities have not released the names of the officers involved. An investigation is underway.
This video calls into question the professionalism of San Bernardino Sheriff Shannon Dicus’ officers. Its publication comes a few weeks after an autistic 15-year-old in the middle of a crisis was shot dead by their services. “I hope that this video will be seen in its entirety and will shed light on the unfortunate events that took place,” responded the sheriff, calling to “let the Department of Justice complete its independent investigation before drawing conclusions.” conclusions”.