San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department cleared in 2022 deadly shooting of kidnapping victim

The California Department of Justice cleared the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department of any criminal charges stemming from the 2022 deadly shooting of kidnapping victim Savannah Graziano.

While Attorney General Rob Bonta cleared the department of any wrongdoing, his office offered several recommendations, including training and the implementation of body and dashboard cameras.

"This was a tragic situation with a tragic outcome that grieved the local community and California as a whole," said Attorney General Bonta. "This report was quite difficult to publish, and I sincerely hope it provides the community with the answers they've been waiting for."

Anthony Graziano, Savannah's father, kidnapped the 15-year-old girl after killing her mother on September 26, 2022. Law enforcement searched throughout the Inland Empire for the teen after the California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert. After receiving a tip about her whereabouts, deputies tracked Anthony down to Barstow a day after the kidnapping. 

Soon after, deputies spotted his Nissan Frontier and chased him down the 15 Freeway toward Hesperia. With Savannah in the pickup truck, Anthony fired at deputies during the 41-mile pursuit through San Bernardino. At the time, deputies thought Savannah had also shot at law enforcement. 

While still shooting, Anthony drove onto the wrong side of the roadway and crashed into an embankment in Hesperia. As Anthony tried to reverse, 21 deputies open-fired on the pickup truck, according to the CA DOJ. Anthony died in the driver's seat during the volley of gunfire, while Savannah escaped through the passenger-side door and crouched behind cover. She was wearing body armor and a ballistic helmet.  

Two years after the shooting, the Sheriff's Department released a video showing Savannah attempting to surrender. One of the deputies directed Savannah to come over to him before telling other deputies to stop shooting at her, according to an audio recording that accompanied the video. However, as she ran toward him, the other deputies shot and killed her. She was unarmed, prompting the state-mandated investigation by the CA DOJ. 

"DOJ conducted a thorough investigation into this incident and concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the deputies involved acted without the intent to defend themselves and others from what each of them reasonably believed to be the imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury," the Attorney General's office said in a statement. 

Bonta said the department immediately implemented the recommended training reviews to minimize risk to bystanders and deputies during a shooting and to improve communications between incident command and responding ground units.