A man who was accused of shooting and killing his wife, is now dead along with his 15-year old daughter after being involved in a shootout with the police in California.
Sheriff Shannon Dicus of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said, “The chain of events began with a homicide. We identified the suspect as Anthony John Graziano.”
Authorities believe Graziano had his daughter Savannah, 15, with him after the incident, which led to an Amber Alert being issued by the Fontana Police Department.
The alert, which included details on Graziano’s vehicle, was later sent to the California Highway Patrol, Dicus said.
“At 10:25 a.m. local time Tuesday, police received a phone call from someone who said they believed they saw Graziano’s car. Barstow deputies arrived to the area, on Highways 395 and 58, and encountered the suspect vehicle,” Dicus said. “A pursuit ensued, and as a result of that pursuit, the suspect immediately starts firing at our deputies, putting several rounds through the windshield of the patrol unit.”
The pursuit continued down Highway 58 to I-15 near Glenwood. At that point, a second patrol car arrived to help assist in the chase.
“The suspect was firing back at our deputies the entire time,” Dicus said. “The suspect shot the second car, causing it to become disabled. The shootout went further down I-15 near Victorville and Hesperia. The suspect was constantly shooting back at the deputies during that period of time.”
Still on I-15, the suspect veered off the road, and multiple patrol cars tried to contain him.
“As a result of that, a fire fight ensued. During that fire fight, the suspect vehicle comes to rest, at which time a suspect exits the passenger side of the vehicle wearing tactical gear,” Dicus said. “That subject starts to run towards Sheriff’s Deputies and during the gun fire goes down.”
“Deputies then started to clear the car to make it safe and render medical aid,” he added. “Officers believed the subject was Savannah and Graziano was in the driver’s seat. Their identities still have to be confirmed with the coroner.”
Savannah was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries and died at 11:52 a.m.
The investigation is still ongoing and could take a day for authorities to sort through the details of the incident.
Discus later added, “It’s possible Savannah participated in the shootout. However, authorities are still confirming whether or not she had a weapon on her. The only weapon that we’re able to confirm right now is a rifle taken from the suspect vehicle.”
One of the deputies were injured during the exchange of gunfire after shell fragments hit his face.
Footage of the shootout, captured by ABC 7 in Los Angeles, shows deputies running toward a vehicle. A pickup truck, similar to the 2017 white Nissan Frontier described in the CHP’s Amber Alert was also shown on the side of the road with the door open and a flat tire.
Before the Amber Alert was issued, Graziano shot and killed his wife near a local elementary school, the Fontana Police Department said in a release shared on Facebook Monday.
Officers were called to the area and once on the scene, they saw a woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. She was taken to the hospital, where she was declared dead.
“The man just came down the street shooting. He started shooting in that direction,” neighbor Andy Davis said. “Hit those trees, houses across the street. They say the bullets were skipping off the street, and the woman was trying to run for her life, and unfortunately she was hit. Once she was hit I guess he shot at her a few more times.”
Cypress Elementary School was put on lockdown during what FPD called a domestic violence incident.
Anyone running towards bullets, I would say is trying to run away from the trouble they are with. No matter how she or he is dressed, in a girl she runs with her hands going across her body. Everyone could have waited for a split second and seen her hands were empty. What a frigging tragedy. This might be considered monday morning quaterbacking, I don’t care. You policeman out there, next time, think about this.
I love how people jump to conclusions before an investigation can be completed. How about we wait until everything is figured out before we make silly comments on how the police are wrong. Do you know that this girl didn’t come out shooting at the police? No you don’t and if you don’t think a 15 year old girl would shoot at the police you are living in a make believe world. Also her dad is a complete scum of the earth, yet you automatically look past that and start blaming police for
their possible mistakes. How about we condemn that complete and utter scumbag for shooting at the police with his daughter in the car. Police officers have families too and need to protect their lives from criminals like this. It’s tragic that a young girl lost her life but you can thank her horrible father for that. Thank the one that should be protecting her. Until you have been in a gun fight like these brave officers you have no right to Monday morning quarterback anything.
Thank you!!!
Regardless if she was shooting or not she is 15. A child a victim all around. I would hate to be the cop who was put in That situation. but at the same time I would hate more to be the cop that gunned down a baby. I dont pretend to have the answers but I know the truth, there’s no excuse for murdering a child. Father needed to die but now someone wearing a badge is a baby killer cause he was a coward.
OK, maybe you need to read the story again. The father was driving. Daughter was wearing tactical gear. If only weapon found was a rifle, how is dad going to drive and fire a rifle, doing the damage that was done to the law enforcement cars. They have a split second to make their decisions. Those decisions decide if they can go home to their families at the end of their watch or not. Maybe you should go on some ride alongs before you start condemning their actions.