Abducted 15-Year-Old Teen, Her Fugitive Father Dies In Shootout With Officers

A man who allegedly murdered his wife was killed in a shootout, along with his 15-year-old daughter, on a highway in California’s high desert on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

Police officers responded at around 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 26, to the intersection of Mallory Street and Cypress Avenue after reports of gunshots nearby Cypress Elementary School. When the authorities reached the scene, they found a woman, identified as Tracy Martinez, 45, wife of the suspect 45-year-old Anthony John Graziano, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. She was immediately taken to a hospital for treatment where she later died, NBC News reported.

After shooting his wife dead, Graziano abducted his 15-year-old daughter Savannah Graziano and fled the scene.

Following this, officials issued an Amber Alert for Savannah who was last seen with her father at Sierra Avenue and Valley Boulevard in Fontana.

Anyone with information regarding the suspect's white 2017 Nissan Frontier vehicle with California license plate number 44305G2 or the suspect was asked to call 911.

Following this, officers received a 911 call alerting them that the suspect's Nissan Frontier was spotted around Barstow on Tuesday. Based on the information, deputies located the pickup truck and chased it on the highway in California’s high desert for around 45 miles, U.S. News & World Report reported.

Throughout the chase, both Graziano and his daughter were “constantly shooting back at the deputies” through the truck's rear window. The shooting put several rounds through a patrol car's windshield and later disabled a second pursuing vehicle.

The pickup truck became disabled on the shoulder of a highway in the city of Hesperia. During the shootout, the girl, who was wearing tactical gear, exited a truck's passenger side and ran toward the sheriff's deputies. However, she was caught in the gunfire, fell to the ground, and collapsed.

Since the teen girl was wearing a helmet and a military-style vest that can hold armored plates, the deputies initially did not realize it was the girl who was running toward them. The teen girl suffered grievous injuries in the shooting and was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly before noon.

Meanwhile, Graziano who was also shot in the standoff, was subsequently found unresponsive in the driver's seat and was pronounced dead at the scene.