By Dominic Taylor-
A father, wanted over the murder of his estranged wife, and his 15-year-old daughter have both died in a shootout with police in California.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Anthony John Graziano, 45,(pictured) and 15-year-old Savanna Graziano died following the shooting on Interstate 15 just east of Los Angeles.
As the gunfight continued, deputies fatally struck the driver inside his truck. The passenger, who was later identified as the teenager, was also struck as she ran toward deputies.
The girl was transported to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead just before noon, Dicus said.
Dicus did not know how many times the teenager was shot. Only one AR-15-type rifle was found at the scene, he said.
One deputy was hit in the face with shrapnel during the gunfight. They were in stable condition Tuesday, Dicus said.
Child Abduction
Anthony John Graziano abducted his child, Savannah, a day earlier, after allegedly killing his wife Tracy Martinez, 45, in Fontana near San Bernardino. Fontana police described the incidence as one that was domestic violence related.
Family members told investigators that the couple had been going through a divorce.
Police had issued an Amber Alert (a missing person alert) after Graziano fled with the teenager. They described him as armed and dangerous.
An emergency caller then reported seeing his Nissan Frontier around Barstow, according to the local sheriff’s department.
Cops located the pickup truck before chasing it down the highway for around 45 miles (72km) as Graziano, and possibly his daughter, “constantly shot back at deputies” through the vehicle’s rear window, striking at least two patrol cars.
Graziano’s pickup eventually broke down by the side of the highway just outside the city of Hesperia and a firefight began.
During the shootout Savannah got out of the truck and ran towards the deputies before falling to the ground, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said.
The pursuing deputies said they did not initially realise it was the teenager when she exited the vehicle because she was wearing a helmet and a military-style vest that can hold armoured plates.
It is not immediately clear if she was shot by the responding deputies or her father.
The teenager was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead. father was found dead in the driver’s seat and a rifle was found inside the car.
One deputy was injured by shrapnel during the firefight, Sheriff Dicus said.
Graziano is thoeught to have killed Tracy Martinez, 45, on Monday morning in a domestic violence event, according to Fontana police.
Family members told investigators that the couple had been going through a divorc.