Anthony Graziano, left, Savannah Graziano, right, were both killed in a shootout. Photo via California Highway Patrol.
A 15-year-old California girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert was killed in a shootout as she was running toward the police. Savannah Graziano died Tuesday in the gunfight between California cops and her father, who is believed to have killed her mother the day before. Her father also died in the shootout. The situation began on Monday at 7:30 a.m., when a shooting near a Fontana, California, elementary school caused the school to be put on lockdown. Police found Tracy Martinez, 45, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and she was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The couple had been going through a divorce, the Associated Press reported. Police called the shooting a “domestic violence incident” and alleged Anthony Graziano, Martinez’s estranged husband, had abducted his 15-year-old daughter. Police issued an Amber Alert and immediately began looking for the pair.
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On Tuesday, police encountered Graziano in his truck near the city of Barstow, California, leading to a car chase and shootout. In the midst of the crossfire, after the vehicles stopped, Savannah Graziano exited the vehicle and ran toward a police car, and was shot and killed. She was wearing tactical gear at the time of her death. San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said on Wednesday that detectives who analyzed the scene told him “evidence suggests that Savannah Graziano was a participant in shooting at our deputies. They offered no evidence for this claim. Police recovered only a single weapon from her father’s truck, a rifle. “We’re still trying to confirm that at this point,” said Dicus. Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here.