Afp Los Angeles
The Angels
Updated Wednesday, April 3, 2024-09:09
A recently released video shows
California Police
fatally shooting a kidnapped teenager they were supposed to rescue, as part of a chaotic incident recorded on the side of a busy highway.
Savannah Graziano
, 15, was shot while following instructions from an officer asking her to get away from her armed father, who had killed her mother the day before.
The events occurred in September 2022, when officers in
San Bernardino
County , east of Los Angeles, were pursuing a vehicle in which
Anthony Graziano
, at the wheel, and Savannah, in the passenger seat, were.
Images from a highway police helicopter show the truck traveling at about 175 kilometers per hour, while several shots come out from inside in the direction of the officers.
The chase ended when Graziano turned onto the road in the wrong direction and the vehicle stopped in a vacant lot, surrounded by patrol cars and agents.
The images show the teenager getting out of the van and walking towards an agent, who is heard in another recording calling for her.
The radio controllers apparently warn him from the helicopter that Savannah is there. "The girl is outside. The girl is outside, gentlemen. The lady is outside. She is on the passenger side," says one of the operators.
In the images, the teenager crouches for a few seconds before standing up and walking towards a group of police officers.
An apparent shooting is heard on the video and Savannah's figure is blurred in the image as the voice on the radio says "Oh no." "Come to me! Come, come, come... walk," the audio of an officer on the ground records, while a gunshot is heard.
"Stop! Stop shooting him
," he tells his colleagues. "She's in the car!" he maintains.
His father died at the scene. Several weapons and bulletproof equipment were in the truck, along with numerous ammunition, police said.
The names of the officers involved were not released but the California Department of Justice has opened an investigation.
This video was released by the San Bernardino sheriff's forensic department just weeks after officers from that jurisdiction shot a 15-year-old boy with autism who was going through a mental health episode.
The sheriff,
Shannon Dicus
, said he had done so out of transparency and in the hope that it would "provide perspective on the events that occurred that day." "I ask the public to allow the Department of Justice to complete its independent investigation before drawing conclusions," she added.
Both incidents bring the use of police force into public debate. Violent encounters with members of law enforcement are not unusual in the United States. A count by The Washington Post shows that more than 1,100 people were shot by officers across the country during the last twelve months. The numbers are not official since police departments are not required to report these incidents to the federal government.