In a tragic incident that took place on September 27, 2022, recently released audio and video recordings have provided new insights into a shooting involving a kidnapped teenager and her father in Hesperia, Southern California. The incident, which unfolded as a high-speed chase-turned-standoff on a highway, left the 15-year-old girl, Savannah Graziano, fatally wounded.

The recordings, obtained by public records requests before being posted online by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, shed light on the events leading up to the shooting and have raised a number of new questions surrounding the case. The department has declined to comment further and has referred all inquiries to the California Department of Justice, which is conducting an investigation into the shooting.

According to the released recordings, San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies and other law enforcement had caught up to Anthony Graziano, 45, who had kidnapped his daughter Savannah one day earlier. Graziano was suspected of killing his estranged wife. During the chase, Graziano shot at patrol cars, disabling one, and reached speeds exceeding 113 mph.

Confusion arose about Savannah's role in the incident. San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus, in a news conference following the shooting, initially described the teenager as a "participant" and suggested she may have fired at deputies as they approached her father's vehicle. However, the recordings reveal a discrepancy in views from the ground and the air, with helicopters reporting shots fired from the driver's side window and a witness reporting shots fired from the passenger side.

As the chase came to a halt after Graziano failed to crest an embankment, a firefight ensued. Savannah, wearing protective gear, exited her father's vehicle. A deputy is heard instructing her to approach him, but other deputies opened fire. Despite the deputy's urgent calls to stop shooting, it was too late, and Savannah was fatally wounded. She was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead. Anthony Graziano died at the scene.

The release of the audio and video footage has brought additional scrutiny to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which is still grappling with another controversial shooting involving the death of a 15-year-old boy with autism. In that case, deputies fatally shot Ryan Gainer after he came at them with a gardening hoe.

The department, which had not implemented body cameras at the time of the Graziano incident, has recently rolled out a body-camera program after several delays, becoming the last sheriff's department in the region to do so.

The investigation into the shooting continues, and the California Department of Justice will examine whether the responding deputies followed proper shooting protocols. As the community awaits answers, these recordings have provided valuable but conflicting information about the tragic events that unfolded in 2022.