Thread: Christopher Dorner in gun battle with authorities, source says

Christopher Dorner in gun battle with authorities, source says

February 12, 2013 | 1:12pm

Christopher Dorner was engaged in a shootout with federal authorities in the Big Bear area Tuesday, a law enforcement source told The Times.

The shooting occurred after Dorner burglarized a home, tied up a couple and stole their car, the source said.

It was not immediately clear whether Dorner was in custody.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

A second source said there was an active crime scene but did not have details.
Law enforcement officials were swarming the area.

U.S. Marshal's officials said in court papers that Dorner could have fled to Mexico. In Tijuana, Dorner was listed as one of the most wanted fugitives. But LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said that was only one of many locations authorities were considering.

DOCUMENT: Read the manifesto

Neiman said detectives were examining video that might show Dorner purchasing scuba gear at a Sport Chalet store in Torrance days before his alleged killing spree began.

aw enforcement sources told The Times that officials have confirmed the man in the video is Dorner. He spent $5 to $10 to fill up a scuba tank, the sources said. Investigators have also reviewed store receipts.
Officers have crisscrossed California pursuing tips about Dorner's possible whereabouts and serving warrants at homes in Las Vegas and Point Loma.
FULL COVERAGE: Sweeping manhunt for ex-cop
Meanwhile, an associate of Dorner was being tracked by investigators, according to court records that suggest Dorner may have received help as he eluded a massive law enforcement dragnet.
Dorner, 33, a former LAPD officer, has evaded authorities since Wednesday night when he was named as the suspect in the slaying of an Irvine couple, a crime that preceded a wave of violence.


A criminal complaint filed in federal court raises the possibility that Dorner may have been assisted by an associate identified as "J.Y."DOCUMENT: Read the manifesto
Statewide alerts have been issued in California and Nevada, and border authorities have been alerted. The Transportation Security Administration also issued an alert urging pilots and other aircraft operators to keep an eye out for Dorner.
The search turned to Big Bear last week after Dorner's burning truck was found on a local forest road.
At the search's height, more than 200 officers scoured the mountain, conducting cabin-by-cabin checks. It has since been scaled back: About 30 officers were involved Monday and the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said about the same number would be out again Tuesday.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Searching for suspected shooter
"The search for Christopher Dorner will continue until he has been apprehended or it has been determined that he is no longer on the mountain," San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Tuesday.
Authorities also asked residents in the Big Bear area with security cameras at their homes to review any video recorded after midnight Feb. 7 to see if images of Dorner had been captured.
A criminal complaint filed in federal court raised the possibility that Dorner may have been assisted by "a known associate" -- identified only as "J.Y." -- with a family member who owns a property in the San Bernardino Mountains. The exact relationship between Dorner and J.Y. was not detailed in the document.
DOCUMENT: Feds say Dorner may have fled to Mexico
The court records also provide new details as to why federal authorities developed "probable cause" that Dorner may have been trying to flee to Mexico as the law enforcement authorities were widening their dragnet.
Dorner allegedly attempted to steal a boat in San Diego and, after subduing the captain, said he was taking the vessel to Mexico, according to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint in federal court in Los Angeles. Dorner is accused of telling the captain that he could recover his boat in Mexico.
"The attempt failed when the bow line of the boat became caught in the boat's propeller, and the suspect fled," according to the affidavit by U.S. Marshals Service Inspector Craig McClusky.
After authorities interviewed the boat captain early Thursday, they found Dorner's wallet and identification cards "at the San Ysidro Point of Entry" near the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the court records. That same day, a guard at the Point Loma Naval Base told authorities he had spotted a man matching Dorner's description trying sneak onto the base, the records said.
Federal authorities told The Times on Monday night that the court papers reflected their thinking at the time, but they stressed that Dorner could be anywhere.
A Tijuana hotel was searched Monday after Mexican authorities received vague information Dorner might be in the area, sources familiar with the investigation said. Dorner was not found, they said.
Dorner allegedly threatened "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" against police in a lengthy manifesto that authorities say he posted on Facebook. The posting named dozens of potential targets, including police officers, that Dorner allegedly threatened to attack, according to authorities.
The records state that the manifesto was discovered by authorities Wednesday, three days after the slaying of the two Irvine victims: Monica Quan, a Cal State Fullerton assistant basketball coach, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, a USC public safety officer.
Quan was the daughter of a retired LAPD captain whom Dorner allegedly blamed in part for his firing from the force in 2009.
The federal documents also provide new details on Dorner's alleged attack against officers early Thursday in Riverside County.
The first shooting was in Corona after an eyewitness reported a person matching Dorner's description at a gas station, telling an LAPD officer "who was detailed to the area to protect one of the officials whom Dorner had threatened," according to the court records.
"When the officer drove by the gas station, the suspect exited his vehicle and fired an assault rifle at the officer, hitting the officer's vehicle," according to the court records.
The LAPD later said the officer received a grazing wound.
About 30 minutes later, Dorner opened fire on Riverside police officers "who were in the area searching for Dorner," the documents said. On that detail, the account conflicts with a statement provided to the media by Riverside police officials, who said the officers were stopped at a red light and were not looking for Dorner.
Riverside Officer Michael Crain, 34, a married father of two who served two tours in Kuwait as a rifleman in the Marines, was killed in the attack. His partner remains hospitalized, Police Chief Sergio Diaz said, and it was unclear if he would be able to return to active duty.
Dorner was charged Monday with one count of murder, with special-circumstance allegations in the killing of a peace officer and the discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, in connection with Crain's death. He faces three additional charges of attempted murder.
Riverside Dist. Atty. Paul Zellerbach said because of the special-circumstance allegations, Dorner could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/02/manhunt-christopher-dorner-big-bear.html

February 12th, 2013
04:49 PM ET

Source: 2 deputies wounded in shootout with ex-LAPD officer

• Person believed to be renegade ex-LAPD officer Christopher J. Dorner shot and wounded two sheriff's deputies Tuesday in Big Bear area of southern California, law enforcement source says
• Source: Suspect shot deputies as authorities were checking report of home invasion and carjacking
• Dorner, alleged to have said he's targeting police officers for his 2008 dismissal from LAPD, has been the subject of a seven-day manhunt as a suspect in three killings
• We'll have updates below as we get them; full story here.

[Updated at 4:49 p.m. ET] Two sheriff's deputies have been wounded in a shootout with a suspect believed to be renegade ex-Los Angeles police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, a high-ranking law official with knowledge of the investigation said Tuesday.
The source says the suspect, believed to be Dorner, shot the deputies as police responded to a report of a home invasion and a carjacking in the Big Bear area of southern California.
After police got a description of the vehicle, police set up a road block, and Dorner approached the officers, the source says. Dorner then opened fire, wounding the two sheriff's deputies, according to the source.
The official said Dorner was "pinned down."

[Updated at 4:35 p.m. ET] The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department confirms that authorities were chasing a pickup truck, according to CNN's Casey Wians.
The department hasn't confirmed whether Dorner is connected to the chase. It did say that Dorner wasn't in custody, CNN's Chris Welch reported.

[Posted at 4:31 p.m. ET] Law enforcement officers are responding to reports that ex-LAPD officer Christopher Jordan Dorner has been sighted and may have been involved in a robbery in the Big Bear area of southern California, said law enforcement sources involved in the investigation.

Dorner – who indicated he was on a campaign of vigilante justice for what he believes was his unfair termination from the LAPD in 2008 – has been the subject of a seven-day manhunt as a suspect in three killings.

Dorner is accused of killing one police officer and wounding two others, as well as killing the daughter of his police union representative and her fiancé.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/12/police-checking-reports-that-ex-lapd-officer-dorner-sighted/?hpt=hp_t1

[Updated at 5:16 p.m. ET] Authorities have ignited a smoke grenade in the Big Bear area of California to mark a location for police helicopters, a high ranking law official with knowledge of the investigation said Tuesday.

[Updated at 5:15 p.m. ET] Former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes explains to CNN what law enforcement personnel usually mean when they say someone is "pinned down":
"The term commonly means he's not running any more, that they've got him trapped in a home or some other physical location ... . That means he's contained; that doesn’t mean he’s in custody ... but it means he’s not running loose."
Earlier, a high-ranking law enforcement source told CNN that authorities believe they have Dorner "pinned down" in California's Big Bear Lake area after a shootout in which two sheriff's deputies were wounded Tuesday.

[Updated at 5:09 p.m. ET] As a precaution, schools in the Big Bear Lake area are on lockdown, Big Bear Lake Mayor Jay Obernolte says.

[Updated at 5:06 p.m. ET] Authorities believe Dorner is "pinned down" in a rural area about 8 miles south of Big Bear Lake, California, the city's mayor told CNN.
Mayor Jay Obernolte says his thoughts and prayers are with the two deputies who police say were wounded in a shootout Tuesday with Dorner.
"If they were injured in the defense of our community, we owe them a huge debt of gratitude," Obernolte said.

[Updated at 5:22 p.m. ET] Authorities are now saying that a man believed to be Dorner exchanged gunfire with law enforcement officers after he barricaded himself inside a cabin Tuesday afternoon, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department says.
Here's the sequence of events from the sheriff's department: Officers got a report of a stolen vehicle in the Big Bear area, and deputies responded to the area at 12:22 p.m. PT and began looking for the vehicle on the ground and from the air.
"The vehicle was located at Hwy. 38 and Glass Rd. The suspect fled into the forest and barricaded himself inside a cabin," the sheriff's department said in a statement. "A short time later there was an exchange of gunfire between law enforcement and the suspect. Sheriff's SWAT is on scene."
Two law enforcement officers are being airlifted to a local hospital with "unknown injuries," the sheriff's department said.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/12/police-checking-reports-that-ex-lapd-officer-dorner-sighted/?hpt=hp_t1

[Updated at 5:36 p.m. ET] San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon has asked that news helicopters pull back or leave the area of the barricaded suspect.
"Gunfire is being exchanged between law enforcement and the suspect; your personnel are in danger and could contribute to officer safety on the ground," the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

[Updated at 6:03 p.m. ET] The two deputies who were injured in this incident have been airlifted to Loma Linda Medical Center, a San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman says. No information on their conditions has been released.

Moments ago, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith told reporters that the deputies were injured during the gunfire exchange between officers and the suspect at the cabin where the suspect barricaded himself. This squares with what a law enforcement source told CNN earlier.

Smith told reporters that LAPD officers are waiting for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department to give them authorization to assist in today's incident.

[Updated at 6 p.m. ET] We're expecting to hear from the Los Angeles Police Department soon. A news conference is expected to start in a few minutes.

[Updated at 6:15 p.m. ET] LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith tells reporters that authorities aren't 100% sure that the suspect in the cabin is Dorner, but they believe it's him.
"The likelihood is that it is him, but we can't say for sure," Smith said.
Smith called on Dorner to surrender. "Everyone is very hopeful that this thing ends without further bloodshed," he said.
"If he's watching this, the message for (him) is enough is enough," Smith said. "It's time to turn yourself in. It's time to end the bloodshed."
Smith said authorities believe the suspect has access to TV. Smith asked television stations to not show live signals of the cabin area "because it puts our officers at a tactical disadvantage."
Earlier today, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon has asked that news helicopters pull back or leave the area of the barricaded suspect. (See 5:36 p.m. entry.)

[Updated at 6:46 p.m. ET]

One of the two law enforcement officers hurt in today's shootout has died, CNN affiliates and the Los Angeles Times have reported. We're awaiting a news conference at the medical center.

[Updated at 7:18 p.m. ET] A California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman says he believes one of his agency's game wardens was the first law enforcement official to confront the suspect in the stolen vehicle, and exchanged gunfire with him.
The game warden was on patrol and saw the vehicle approaching in the Big Bear area, the spokesman said. The warden got out of his vehicle and fired at the suspect, the spokesman said. It's not clear from the spokesman's interview that the suspect left his vehicle at that point.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department says the suspect left the stolen vehicle Tuesday afternoon as authorities confronted him, ran into a forest and eventually entered a cabin, where a shootout happened.

[Updated at 7:08 p.m. ET] A little more on the geography: The area where the suspect got out of the vehicle and fled into the San Bernardino National Forest (and then into a cabin) is about 5 miles southwest, as the bird flies, of the spot where the vehicle was reported stolen near Big Bear Lake. But the most direct route between the two locations is about 27-mile drive between the two locations, around Sugarloaf Mountain.

[Updated at 7:26 p.m. ET] The cabin appears to be on fire. Authorities began an assault on the structure minutes ago.
Authorities have penetrated the structure and were bringing equipment to tear openings into the cabin, a source familiar with the operation said.
[Updated at 7:22 p.m. ET] Black smoke is rising high in the air from the cabin area, video from CNN affiliate KABC shows. The video appeared to be taken from a distance; authorities had asked news helicopters to keep well away.
[Updated at 7:20 p.m. ET] Authorities have launched tear gas at the cabin, and a tactical operation is under way, Former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes tells CNN.