Homicide suspect, daughter killed in shootout with California law enforcement

(KTLA) – A homicide suspect and his 15-year-old daughter, who he was accused of abducting, were shot and killed by law enforcement during a pursuit and gunfight along a California highway on Tuesday.

Earlier this week, authorities said Anthony John Graziano, 45, allegedly killed his estranged wife, Tracy Martinez, 45, during a domestic dispute. The couple was in the process of getting a divorce, police said.

Within a few hours of the Monday morning shooting, police issued an Amber Alert for the couple’s daughter, Savanna Graziano. She had last been seen with her father near Fontana, 50 miles east of Los Angeles.

Tuesday morning, amid the ongoing manhunt, a resident reported seeing Graziano and the truck the Amber Alert said he was driving.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies located the vehicle and gave chase. At one point, the driver, later determined to be Graziano, opened fire on officers from his rear window, Sheriff Shannon Dicus said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Numerous patrol vehicles were shot, and one became disabled. A deputy was also hit in the face with shrapnel, Dicus said.

The pursuit continued through Hesperia, northeast of Los Angeles, before Graziano eventually went off the road. A shootout then ensued.

Sky5 the helicopter for Nexstar’s KTLA, showed the suspect’s riddled truck on the side of the road with multiple flat tires and shattered windows.

At some point, a passenger wearing tactical gear exited the truck while, ran toward deputies and went down “during the gunfire,” Dicus explained.

After the shooting stopped and the truck was cleared, authorities realized the person wearing the tactical gear was Graziano’s daughter. The girl was immediately transported to a local hospital, but later died.

Graziano was found in the driver’s seat and pronounced dead at the scene.

Dicus said it is unclear if the teen was armed when she ran toward deputies, or if she fired at deputies at any time during the dangerous pursuit. Only one weapon, a rifle, was recovered from the scene.

He added that the information shared Tuesday is preliminary and coroner’s office needs to positively identify both people killed in the gun battle.

Dicus called the investigation “complex,” and indicated his department will be looking at any video taken during the chaos.

Following the incident, CHP canceled its Amber Alert. Dicus said it could take another day before more information becomes available.