Press Conference.
Sheriff - The suspect in this case is believed to be Anthony John Graziano and he was considered armed and dangerous as a result of that case and homicide that occurred yesterday. It was also believed that he was with his 15 year old daughter Savannah. This resulted in an Amber Alert by Fontana PD and was transferred out through the California Highway Patrol.
As a result of that Amber Alert, at 10:25 this morning a citizen called into our dispatch centre and related that they thought they saw his suspect vehicle, which is also contained in the Amber Alert that I described earlier. Barstow deputies were dispatched to the area of Hwy. 395 and Hwy. 58, where the vehicle was seen. As the deputies arrived, they encountered the suspect vehicle. A pursuit ensues 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 continues on Hwy. 58 to I-15 in the area of Linwood where a second unit is involved, the suspect firing back at our deputies the entire time. At which time the suspect ends up shooting the second pursuing vehicle, causing the vehicle to become disabled. The pursuit continues down I-15 towards the Victorville Hesperia area constantly shooting back at the deputies during that period of time. As they get into the area of Main Street, and what we're talking about is the SW corner of Maine where it intersects the I-15, it appears that the suspect goes off road. Several jurisdictions at this time are involved in the pursuit. and the deputies attempt to contain the suspect in the triangle that's made by the offramp, the I-15 freeway, and the Main Street bridge that goes over the top.
As a result of that, a firefight ensues during that firefight the suspect vehicle comes to rest, at which time a subject exits the passenger side of the vehicle wearing tactical gear. That subject starts to run towards sheriff's deputies and during the gunfire goes down. Sheriff's deputies immediately go to clear the vehicle so that they could clear the vehicle, make it safe and render medical aid. At which time they contact the subject wearing the tactical gear and we believe that both the suspect in the vehicle and the person that's contacted with the tactical gear that that person is a 15 year old juvenile, Savannah. The suspect we believe is Graciano in the driver's seat of the car. This all still needs to be confirmed and is preliminary information and we will confirm it through the Coroners Office. But as the deputy's go up and render medical aid and realise that this is Savannah in the tactical gear, they immediately transport her to a local area hospital. At 11:52 hours Savannah is pronounced deceased.
This investigation is going to take at least 24 hours before we're able to provide you with more information as to what happened and exactly what the circumstances are as it relates to the officer involved situation. But at this time, both Anthony Graziano and Savannah are deceased.
Reporter - Can you recount again how the girl wound up being in the way of the bullets?
Sheriff - A subject that entered, not knowing it was the girl initially, was wearing tactical gear. This is in the middle of the firefight.
Reporter - Right. Shooting back and forth with Mr. Graziano and she's in the middle of that, right?
Sheriff - Preliminarily again, there may be some indications that the passenger of the vehicle, which we believe is Savannah, may have been also involved in some of the fire exchange.
Reporter - What do you mean by that? What information do you have on that?
Sheriff - There may be some information that the passenger was involved in firing back at the deputies and we're still trying to confirm that at this point.
Reporter - Do you believe it's true?
Sheriff - We don't know. It is so early in this investigation, folks. This is highly complex. It covers, as you can imagine, the number of miles coming out from Hwy 58 and 395 all the way from the Barstow area coming back here. Very substantial investigation, multiple scenes in terms of where these shootings occurred, and ultimately ending up out here.
Reporter - Do any of the deputies who were involved, or any of their cars, have video cameras, bodycam video, anything else like that? Are you pulling that now to analyse it?
Sheriff - Yes, were analysing the video. Where the video came from or the airships above it that were actually above the pursuit itself.
Reporter - You've got ground and you've got air on the same....tracking almost the whole way?
Sheriff - In the area just outside of Barstow is when the aircraft is able to get over them and we do have video from those aircraft.
Reporter - Just to confirm because it sounds like you're going back and forth. Are you confirming that the 15 year old girl was in the tactical gear or are you guys still not sure of that at this time?
Sheriff - I'm confirming that the 15 year old girl was in there. As far as her identity, officially, that goes through the Coroners Office. Preliminarily it does seem or does appear to be her.
Reporter - The person wearing the tactical gear that was coming at deputies - did they have a weapon on them?
Sheriff - At this time, I don't have that information. I'm not sure, we're still reviewing the entire scene.
Reporter - Multiple weapons inside the car with the suspect who died, I take it?
Sheriff - The only weapon that we're able to confirm right now is a rifle taken from the suspect vehicle.
Reporter - Do you know how many times the teen was actually struck by gunfire?
Sheriff - We don't know. There are numerous sheriff's units that were struck as a result of the pursuit and also in the area where everything ultimately comes to an end.
Reporter - Anything as far as identification of the rifle that may have been used?
Sheriff - Not at this point.
Reporter - To the continual shooting back and forth - assuming it was an automatic rifle?
Sheriff - Yeah, it's been described to me as an AR type rifle, but I haven't confirmed that yet.
Reporter - Were your deputies (
inaudible) gun battle between the deputies and the suspect?
Sheriff - It's my understanding that most of the fire that was returned happened out here at the scene. There may have been some returned at the Barstow area, but I don't know that at this point for sure.
Reporter - Can you please tell us what weapons were found at the scene?
Sheriff - There is a rifle that's found at the scene. What type it is? I'm just being told it may be an AR type rifle, but I haven't confirmed. This is all preliminary at this time.
Reporter - Inside of the truck?
Sheriff - Inside of the truck.
Reporter - So there were no weapons found outside or on the second person?
Sheriff - At this point, I don't know what the crime scene looks like. I haven't received that information.
Reporter - So there is the possibility that there was a second weapon involved?
Sheriff - At this point, I don't know that. I have to find out what the investigators actually bring back as a result. It's a substantial crime scene.
Reporter - Can you describe what the second person, that's a female - What did the body armour look like?
Sheriff - It looked like what we consider what we call a plate carrier, on the front of the person and then also a tactical helmet.
Reporter - Are you saying she was wearing body armour with trauma plates at the front?
Sheriff - It sounds like a trauma plate itself, the way it's being described to me, again preliminarily, and a tactical type helmet.
Reporter - The chase between Barstow to Hisperia on the freeway - Did the Sheriff's Dept. have command of the situation the whole time or was it like a back and forth with command between CHP?
Sheriff - No. Initially, we were the ones that engaged the suspect and continued that all the way to the termination point.
Reporter - (
inaudible) Do you know if they were shot from the suspects passenger side, or, drivers side, or both?
Sheriff - We won't know that for hours. We won't know that for hours, folks and we'll get back to you.
Reporter - Did the helicopter fire on the car?
Sheriff - No it did not.
Reporter - Any deputies injured?
Sheriff - At this point, we do have one deputy that was injured as far as shrapnel that they received to their face during the firefight.
Reporter - The way it's been described to you - Was the girl running toward deputies or away from the car?
Sheriff - It's described as running towards deputies.
Reporter - The deputy condition - critical, stable? Do you know that?
Sheriff - Deputy is stable.
Reporter - Was that deputy inside of the vehicle or on the outside of the vehicle?
Sheriff - I'm not sure at this point.
Reporter - What about the relationship between the man and the girl - She was considered a kidnap victim at one point and now we have her in tactical gear.
Sheriff - I don't know if we're going to know that at this point, and I'll kind finish this off with your question. Is that, we're going to have to compare notes between the investigators and Fontana based on the original scene and, of course, what happened here. It's my hope that we're able to fill you in with a number of things that we just don't know yet.
Thank you all very much.
Reporter - The driver was not wearing any tactical gear?
Sheriff - I don't know that.
The worst has been confirmed. Savannah was pronounced dead at 11:52 am. Press conference on now:
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