Thread: 1 cop killed, 2 others shot amid manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

February 7, 2013, 8:31 AM

1 cop killed, 2 others shot amid manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

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Updated at 2:12 p.m. ET

LOS ANGELES Police launched a massive manhunt for a former Los Angeles officer suspected of killing a couple over the weekend and opening fire on four officers early Thursday, killing one and critically wounding another, authorities said. Two women were also wounded by LAPD who shot at a pick-up truck they thought belonged to the suspect.

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Ex-LAPD cop accused of going on killing spree

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LAPD officers on alert as search for shooter continues

The search for Christopher Dorner, who was fired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008 for making false statements, began after he was linked to the weekend killing of the daughter of a former police captain and her fianc?. That former police captain had represented him during the disciplinary proceeding that led to his firing.

Navy spokesman Keith Dixon told The Associated Press Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego was put on lockdown Thursday afternoon after someone reported that a man matching Dorner's description was in the area. Numerous local police and federal officials are on scene.

"He knows what he's doing," L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck told reporters Thursday at a press conference. "We trained him. He was also a member of the armed forces. It is extremely worrisome and scary, especially for the police officers involved."

CBS News senior correspondent John Miller, a former head of the LAPD's Major Crimes Division, said on "CBS This Morning" Thursday that authorities were carrying out a manhunt "like none other" to find Dorner.

"He's really thrown down an incredible gauntlet here, and they have deployed every resource the LAPD has," Miller said.

Early Thursday, police came under fire in two separate shootings in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles.

The first occurred in Corona and involved two LAPD officers working a security detail. Police Chief Beck said the officers had gotten a tip that Dorner was in the area. The officers "observed" Dorner, and then Dorner shot at them. One officer was grazed, and they were unable to pursue him because the police car was damaged from bullets.

Later, two officers on routine patrol in neighboring Riverside were ambushed at a stop light, said Riverside Lt. Guy Toussaint. One died and the other was in surgery.

The Riverside officers shot overnight were not actively looking for Dorner, Toussaint said.

"We're asking our officers to be extraordinarily cautious just as we're asking the public to be extraordinarily cautious with this guy. He's already demonstrated he has a propensity for shooting innocent people. We can't provide a lot of information now because we're trying to capture him," said Cmdr. Andrew Smith.

"We don't know where he is. We're looking for the public's help to locate this guy.

Anybody who sees him or believes they see him or his vehicle should call 911."

Dorner's LAPD badge and an ID were found near San Diego's airport and were turned in to police at early Thursday, San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick said. He had attempted to steal a boat from a boat owner in the same city on Wednesday, but was unsuccessful and fled.

Dorner is wanted in the killings of Monica Quan and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, who were found shot to death in their car at a parking structure Sunday night, Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard said at a news conference Wednesday night.

Dorner, 33, implicated himself in the killings with a multi-page "manifesto" that he wrote that included threats against several people, including members of the LAPD, police said. They gave no further details on the document or its contents.

Early Thursday morning, officers guarding a target in the manifesto shot and wounded two women in Torrance who were in a pickup.

• Report: Police shoot 2 in search for ex-cop Dorner
• Ex-LAPD officer: Killings "a necessary evil"

Quan, 28, was an assistant women's basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton. Lawrence, 27, was a public safety officer at the University of Southern California.
The killings brought mourning and disbelief at three college campuses, Fullerton, USC, and Concordia University, where the two met when they were both students and basketball players.

Police said the U.S. Navy reservist may be driving a blue 2005 Nissan Titan pickup truck with a Department of Defense sticker on it. His last known address was in La Palma in northern Orange County near Fullerton.

Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.

Quan's father, a former LAPD captain who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press Wednesday night.

Randal Quan retired in 2002. He later served as chief of police at Cal Poly Pomona before he started practicing law.

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans. Dorner said that in the course of an arrest, Evans kicked suspect Christopher Gettler, a schizophrenic with severe dementia.

Following an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.
Richard Gettler, the schizophrenic man's father, gave testimony that supported Dorner's claim. After his son was returned on July 28, 2007, Richard Gettler asked "if he had been in a fight because his face was puffy" and his son responded that he was kicked twice in the chest by a police officer.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57568135/1-cop-killed-2-others-shot-amid-manhunt-for-ex-lapd-officer/

Ex-LA cop, murder suspect sent CNN anchor parcel

Updated 7:23 pm, Thursday, February 7, 2013
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Law enforcement officials are inspecting a package CNN's Anderson Cooper received from a former Los Angeles police officer who allegedly killed three in a shooting spree.

CNN spokeswoman Shimrit Sheetrit said Thursday that a parcel containing a note, a DVD and a bullet hole-riddled memento were sent by Christopher Dorner and addressed to Cooper's office.

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith says LAPD robbery-homicide detectives will inspect the package for clues.

The package arrived Feb. 1, days before the first two killings Dorner is accused of.

It contained a note on it that read, in part, "I never lied."

Dorner was fired from the LAPD in 2008 for making false statements.
A coin typically given out as a souvenir by the police chief was also in the package, and riddled with bullet holes.

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Ex-LA-cop-murder-suspect-sent-CNN-anchor-parcel-4261691.php

February 8, 2014
By Beau Yarbrough, The (San Bernardino County) Sun


Border security is tight today amid the statewide search for fugitive Christopher Dorner. (By Beau Yarbrough)

Soldiers armed with automatic weapons and wearing flak jackets and helmets manned the U.S./Mexico border this morning as security was heightened in the manhunt for fugitive Christopher Dorner.

Law enforcement from multiple agencies also converged at the border in search of the man, who so far has eluded capture.

Searches are continuing throughout the Southland, including the San Bernardino Mountains, where San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies have been working since Thursday afternoon.

Border security tight amid Dorner search - San Bernardino County Sun

SHOCK: ALLEGED LA COP KILLER ACTUALLY HAS SUPPORTERS WHO THINK HE’S AN ‘AMERICAN HERO’ AND THE ‘DARK KNIGHT’

Feb. 8, 2013 8:00pm Jason Howerton

Former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner is a suspect in the killings of Monica Quan and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, who were found shot to death in their car at a parking structure Sunday night. (AP)

Despite the fact that former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner is accused of killing a cop and two other innocent people, he actually has amassed a fan base. Some of his supporters call him a “hero” for penning a lengthy manifesto focused on alleged racism and corruption within the LAPD.

Several Dorner supporters on Twitter are referring to the suspected cop killer as an “American hero” and “Dark Knight,” the Huffington Post reports. Here are a few examples:

DAE MONTANA @LE_DAESO
Chris Dorner is an American hero
11:08 PM - 08 Feb 13

pretty nigga rich ✌ @therealdutchh
Chris Dorner is my hero. If you don't know who that is, do your research.
10:34 PM - 08 Feb 13

Manny Hurtado @MannyHurtadoLA
Chris Dorner is my hero! Finally someone is trying to change the corrupt LAPD. #Dorner

Marsellus Wallace @Marsellus666
Chris #Dorner turns on Bad Cops meanwhile #LAPDofficers "shoot first" open fire on 2 INNOCENT women, Who's the "Hero" in this story again?
1:17 PM - 08 Feb 13

Koreatown LA @KoreatownLA
Chris Dorner already being called a folk hero for exposing the pigs. Sad that the only way he was noticed was by his murdering innocent ppl.
6:31 AM - 07 Feb 13

Meanwhile, many other Twitter users expressed their disgust that Dorner is being labeled a noble hero.

A Facebook fan page for Chris Dorner calls him “the hero LA deserves, but not the one it needs right now” — words lifted from the Batman movies.

“So we’ll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he’s not the hero. He’s a silent guardian, watchful protector against corruption, he’s our Dark Knight,” the post adds. The page had 769 likes as of Friday afternoon.

Another Facebook page titled “I Support Christopher Jordan Dorner” had over 2,000 likes as of Friday afternoon.

The creator of the page told the Huffington Post that he wanted to steer the narrative away from Dorner’s mental health, because the real story is police corruption.

“I knew that the media was going to turn this into just another ‘He’s a psycho ex-cop ex-military that went insane’ story, and wanted to show that there was more to what was going on than that,” the individual, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote in a Facebook message. “There is a huge underlying story of police corruption and the plight of a man that tried his best to do good but was relentlessly punished for it.”

Whether some consider him a hero or not, he is a murder suspect so the search for Dorner continued on Friday. More than 100 officers, including SWAT teams, were driven in glass-enclosed snow machines and armored personnel carriers to hunt for the former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a deadly rampage to get back at those he blamed for ending his police career.

With bloodhounds in tow, officers went door to door as snow fell, aware to the reality they could be walking into a trap set by the well-trained former Navy reservist who knows their tactics and strategies as well as they do.

A San Bernardino County Sheriff SWAT team returns to the command post at Bear Mountain near Big Bear Lake, Calif. after searching for Christopher Jordan Dorner Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. Search conditions have been hampered as a heavy winter storm has hit the area. Credit: CAONT

“The bad guy is out there, he has a certain time on you, and a distance. How do you close that?” asked T. Gregory Hall, a retired tactical supervisor for a special emergency response team for the Pennsylvania State Police.

“The bottom line is, when he decides that he is going to make a stand, the operators are in great jeopardy,” Hall said.

As authorities weathered heavy snow and freezing temperatures in the mountains, thousands of heavily armed police remained on the lookout throughout California, Nevada, Arizona and northern Mexico.

Police said officers still were guarding more than 40 people mentioned as targets in a rant they said Dorner posted on Facebook. He vowed to use “every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordinance and survival training I’ve been given” to bring “warfare” to the LAPD and its families.

The Blaze

Rogue ex-cop is heavily armed, trained and out there somewhere

By Michael Martinez and Paul Vercammen , CNN
updated 9:53 PM EST, Fri February 8, 2013

Officers investigate the burned out truck of Christopher Jordan Dorner that was discovered at the base of Bear Mountain Ski Resort in Big Bear Lake, California, on Thursday, February 7. Dorner is the subject of a massive manhunt and is accused of killing one police officer and wounding two others, as well as killing the daughter of his police union representative and her fiance on Sunday.

Department of Homeland Security officers search vehicles at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego on February 7 as they search for former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck speaks at a press conference about the manhunt for Dorner as photos of the suspect stand in the background on February 7.
>
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• As darkness and snow falls, police scale back manhunt until Saturday
• "The possibility exists that he is here, somewhere in the forest," official says
• Christopher Dorner may have as many as 30 guns with him, a source says
• Dorner is trained in counterinsurgency and intelligence, the source says

Big Bear Lake, California (CNN) -- The ex-cop suspected in the killings of an officer and two others remained at large Friday as darkness fell over a mountain forest and police suspended their manhunt until Saturday morning.

"Once it gets dark out there and the snow keeps falling and they have no air support, I don't know how effective they would be in that situation," spokeswoman Cindy Bachman of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.

Throughout Friday, more than 100 officers searched through fresh snow for clues to the whereabouts of Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, a fired Los Angeles Police Department officer and former Navy lieutenant suspected in the three killings.

Dorner allegedly wrote a manifesto declaring a war of revenge on police, authorities said.

By Friday night, police were expected to have completed a search of vacant cabins in the snowpacked forest of the San Bernardino Mountains near the resort town of Big Bear Lake, Bachman said,.


Manhunt continues for ex-LAPD cop



Miller: Dorner hunting the hunters



Danger of searching for an ex-cop



Dorner's friend: Manifesto is 'shocking'

Police on Thursday searched 400 homes in the Big Bear Lake area and were completing searches of 200 more on Friday, she said. Overnight patrols in the town were to be beefed up with 12 extra two-officer teams, she said.

"The search is continuing," Bachman said. "First of all, they have to rest. They have been going at this for two days."

Police teams were dressed in snow gear, holding the trigger guards on their assault-style rifles while scouring eight square miles near Big Bear Lake, a popular skiing area two hours east of Los Angeles.

The mountains were the focus of Friday's search effort because police had found Dorner's burned-out pickup truck a day earlier near the resort community.

The truck had a broken axle, which would have prevented the vehicle from moving, and footprints appear to show that Dorner doubled back into the community, said a source with knowledge of the investigation.

It was unclear where Dorner may have gone from there or by what means, the source said.

But Bachman told reporters Friday: "The possibility exists that he is here, somewhere in the forest, so we're going to keep looking...until we determine that he's not here."

Guns found in the truck were also burned, but authorities believe Dorner may have as many as 30 guns with him, the source said. Dorner was in the Navy and is trained in counterinsurgency and intelligence, the source said.

Two inches of snow Friday coated the mountaintop pine trees and roads around Big Bear Lake, leading motorists to use tire chains. Up to six more inches were expected. But the snow was regarded as a godsend because tracking a man on the run would be easier, authorities said.

Despite the intense search, authorities allowed nearby ski resorts to remain open Friday because they don't believe Dorner is in Big Bear Lake. At one point, a smiling snowboarder whizzed by police and media, seemingly oblivious to an ongoing news conference and the seriousness of the manhunt.

Jay Obernolte, mayor of Big Bear Lake community, described Friday as having "a beautiful winter morning." Residents weren't fearful, he said, adding that "many of the people here are armed."

"Is there panic in our community?" Obernolte asked reporters rhetorically. "No, there is no panic. We're a hardy people in the San Bernardino Mountains."
San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said the snowfall slowed some searching done by foot, but police pushed onward.

"The snow is great for tracking folks, as well as looking at each individual cabin to see if there's any sign of forced entry," McMahon said.



Police search for alleged cop killer



Track the events leading up to manhunt



Fired cop's 'last resort' manifesto



LAPD suspect's chilling package to CNN

"We're going to continue searching until we either discover he left the mountain or we find him," he added. "It's extremely dangerous."

Related: Manhunt leaves LAPD officers 'tense'
The county jail in downtown Los Angeles was in lockdown Friday as a precaution after a civilian female employee of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility spotted someone fitting Dorner's description, said Los Angelese County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

U.S. Navy installations throughout California and Nevada were "maintaining a heightened security posture," a U.S. military official told CNN.

"Security personnel are on the lookout" for Dorner, the official said. The measure was ordered overnight by Rear Adm. Dixon Smith, commander of the Navy's southwest region.

The official declined to discuss security procedures, but said the move was made after it became clear that Dorner earlier this week gained access to the Naval Base at Point Loma and stayed in a motel there.

Two sailors reported that he approached them Wednesday and spoke with them for about 10 minutes. The conversation took place at a coastal "riverine" unit in San Diego where Dorner served in 2006. As a Navy reservist, Dorner held security jobs with that unit.

The Navy is not certain whether Dorner still possesses any military identification he might try to use to enter a facility. The official said an investigation is under way to determine what military identification he might have.

Dorner underwent flight training in 2009 at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada before serving in San Diego.

In La Palma, California, about 22 miles southeast of Los Angeles, police searched Friday the home of Dorner's mother, where she and a daughter were cooperating with investigators, said Lt. Bill Whalen of the Irvine Police Department.

Related: Dorner's grudge dates back to 2007

The 270-pound former Navy lieutenant promised to bring "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" to police officers and their families, calling it the "last resort" to clear his name and retaliate at a department that he says mistreated him.

Dorner is wanted in the killings on Sunday of two people in Irvine and in the shooting of three Los Angeles-area police officers Thursday, one of whom died.

One of the victims of the Irvine killings, Monica Quan, was the daughter of the retired police officer who represented Dorner in his efforts to get his job back, police said.

"My opinion of the suspect is unprintable," Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz said, hours after one of his officers was killed. "The manifesto, I think, speaks for itself (as) evidence of a depraved and abandoned mind and heart."

Related: Timeline of events

Here's what is known so far:
-- Dorner, who worked as an LAPD officer from 2005 to 2008, is accused of killing Quan and her fiance Sunday in Irvine, then shooting two Riverside police officers and an LAPD officer Thursday. Police say he unleashed numerous rounds at the Riverside officers, riddling their car with bullets and killing a 34-year-old officer. The second officer in the car was seriously wounded, and the LAPD officer suffered only minor injuries, police said.
-- In a lengthy letter provided by police, Dorner said he had been unfairly fired by the LAPD after reporting another officer for police brutality. He decried what he called a continuing culture of racism and violence within the department, and called attacks on police and their families "a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name."
-- Leads have taken police from Los Angeles to San Diego to Las Vegas to Big Bear Lake, where police found the charred carcass of Dorner's gray pickup. Police had found no trace of him Friday, the San Bernadino County sheriff said. Trackers lost footprints believed to be Dorner's in a wooded area near the truck.
-- The LAPD and other agencies have gone to extremes to protect officers. Forty teams of officers were guarding people named as targets in Dorner's letter. On Thursday, one of the teams shot at a pickup that resembled Dorner's but turned out to be a Los Angeles Times newspaper delivery vehicle.
-- Despite Dorner's statement in the letter that "when the truth comes out, the killing stops," Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck said authorities don't plan to apologize to Dorner or attempt to clear his name. Dorner's firing, Beck said Thursday, had already been "thoroughly reviewed."
-- In Nevada on Thursday, FBI agents searched Dorner's Las Vegas home. The search forced some of Dorner's neighbors out of their homes for several hours,

CNN affiliate KLAS reported.

"It's too close to home. It's kind of scary," neighbor Dan Gomez told KLAS.

A message to the media
In addition to posting his manifesto online, Dorner mailed a parcel to AC360 Anchor Anderson Cooper's office at CNN in New York.

The package arrived on February 1 and was opened by Cooper's assistant. Inside was a hand-labeled DVD, accompanied by a yellow Post-it note reading, in part, "I never lied" -- apparently in reference to his 2008 dismissal from the LAPD.
The package also contained a coin wrapped in duct tape. The tape bears the handwritten inscription: "Thanks, but no thanks, Will Bratton." It also had letters that may be read as "IMOA," which could be a commonly used Internet abbreviation for "Imagine a More Open America," or possibly "1 MOA," which means one minute of angle, perhaps implying Dorner was accurate with a firearm.

The coin is a souvenir medallion from former LAPD Chief William Bratton, of a type often given out as keepsakes. This one, though, was shot through with bullet holes: three bullet holes to the center and one that nicked off the top.

The editorial staff of AC360 and CNN management were made aware of the package Thursday. Upon learning of its existence, they alerted Bratton and law enforcement.

Bratton headed the LAPD at the time Dorner was dismissed.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/08/us/lapd-attacks/index.html?eref=googletoolbar

Evidence collected at Calif. storage unit as part of investigation into fugitive ex-officer

By Associated Press, Feb 09, 2013 11:53 PM EST
APUpdated: Saturday, February 9, 3:53 PM

BUENA PARK, Calif. — Authorities served a search warrant at a Southern California storage unit as part of their investigation into a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer suspected of killing three people.

Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen said Saturday that evidence was collected late Friday night from the facility in Buena Park. She wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of the evidence or say who had rented the storage unit.

On Friday, another warrant was served at a La Palma house belonging to Christopher Dorner’s mother. Officers collected 10 bags of evidence including five electronic items.

Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks that left three people dead, including a police officer. Authorities say he has vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues who he believed cost him his law enforcement career.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/evidence-collected-at-calif-storage-unit-as-part-of-investigation-into-fugitive-ex-officer/2013/02/09/e33fdbb4-7313-11e2-b3f3-b263d708ca37_story.html