Fugitive ex-LA cop charged with murder of officer

February 11, 2013 @ 7:03 pm


This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer. Seeking leads in a massive manhunt, Los Angeles authorities on Sunday put up a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department) | Zoom
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RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - Hundreds of tips prompted by a $1 million reward poured in to authorities seeking help finding the most wanted man in America, an ex-Los Angeles police officer who was charged Monday with murdering a Riverside policeman.

With thousands of officers around Southern California searching for Christopher Dorner, prosecutors in Riverside announced charges for last week's killing. Dorner also was charged with attempted murder for wounding another officer and firing at two others, Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said.

Authorities obtained a no-bail arrest warrant, which allows Dorner to be apprehended anywhere, Zellerbach said.

The manhunt for Dorner, 33, began last Wednesday when he was named the suspect in the Orange County murders of a former Los Angeles police captain's daughter and her fiance the previous weekend. Hours after police announced they were looking for him, Dorner first fired at two LAPD officers, then ambushed the Riverside officers.

"By both his words and conduct, he has made very clear to us that every law enforcement officer in Southern California is in danger of being shot and killed," Zellerbach said at a news conference that was guarded by four officers armed with rifles.

Police say Dorner wrote a lengthy manifesto that was posted to Facebook after the double murder. He vowed deadly revenge on those in the LAPD responsible for his firing years earlier, and their families. Police now are providing protection for some 50 families thought to be targets.

The search for Dorner was focused in the mountains near Big Bear Lake about 80 miles east of Los Angeles after his burned-out truck was found there last Thursday. Authorities are searching more than 30 square miles day and night in the ski resort area and checking on roughly 600 cabins.

Police and city officials believe the reward, raised from public and private sources, will encourage citizens to stay vigilant. More than 700 tips had come in since the reward was announced.

"Now it's like the game show `Who Wants to be a Millionaire,'" said Anthony Burke, supervisory inspector for the U.S. Marshals regional fugitive taskforce. "Instead of one contestant, we've got 100,000, and there's only one question you have to answer. All they have to answer is where he's at, and we can take it from there."

The wide-ranging search has created unusually heavy traffic backups at California border crossings into Mexico, as agents are more closely inspecting each car. State police in Mexico's Baja California were given photographs of Dorner and warned to consider him armed and extremely dangerous.

Zellerbach said authorities believe Dorner will emerge at some point and try to continue carrying out his vendetta.

"I don't think he's done," Zellerbach said. "Just read his manifesto and look at his actions. He's trying to send a message, and it would be my belief that his message is not completed yet."

Dorner was fired from the LAPD five years ago, when a department board determined that he falsely claimed another officer had kicked a suspect. Randal Quan represented him during the proceeding.

Quan's daughter, Monica, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, were found shot dead Feb. 3 in a car in the parking structure of their Irvine condominium. Last Wednesday, after discovery of the manifesto, Irvine police announced they were searching for Dorner.

Early Thursday in the Riverside County city of Corona, police say Dorner shot at two LAPD officers who had been dispatched to protect a possible target of Dorner's. One officer's head was grazed by a bullet; the other was unharmed.

Minutes later, authorities said Dorner used a rifle to ambush two Riverside officers, killing one and seriously wounding another. The slain officer was identified as Michael Crain, 34. The other officer's identity was not released to protect his family.

___

Abdollah reported from Los Angeles. AP writer Elliot Spagat contributed to this report from San Diego. Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LATams.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (38)


  • Add A Comment

  • Newton wrote...
    Yikes!.
    February 7, 2013 7:19 am
    On a Power trip. Abused everything.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sportsguru wrote...
    I don't know
    February 7, 2013 7:59 am

    According to transcripts, this officer spoke out against abuse by his training officer and was fired because of it. Sounds like he discovered that the police department is not protecting and serving and instead is beating and lying and covering it up as usual and he was the fall guy to cover that up.

    Apparently, he is on a rampage against the police for there criminal activity and is just trying to exact his own set of justice, I don't agree with his method obviously, but there is more to this story than what is being reported.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    Yup and
    February 7, 2013 8:25 am
    According to so called "liberals" these are the only people that should be allowed to have firearms. Never mind that the only mass shooting involving TRUE assault weapons (fully automatic) in the last 40 or so years was another off his rocker cop. Don't ever let facts get in the way of an agenda, or in the words of that GANGSTER CRIMINAL Rahm Emanuel "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.", such as using still warm bodies of murdered innocent children to push a gun control/national registration agenda that will surely lead to an all out gun confiscation just as it has in EVERY country that put in place a national registry. Don't worry about Chicago with their problems (MOST violent city in the WORLD) they have super draconian gun laws that are CLEARLY not working.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    CldWtrSrf
    February 7, 2013 10:20 am
    Touché' ! Liberals hate facts & proof....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    CldWtrSrf wrote... Yup and February 7, 2013 8:25 am According to so called "liberals" these are the only people that should be allowed to have firearms.
    February 7, 2013 11:35 am
    What a joke?

    I'm not seeing any "liberals" say any such thing.

    I'm seeing you idiot Republicans pump out lots of straw men though. .

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • rational wrote...
    William Lawn
    February 7, 2013 4:35 pm
    I'm seeing you idiot Republicans pump out lots of straw men though.

    Since when is a straw man argument a negative for a leftist? Heck, your president uses them all the time and you lionize him for being a great speaker.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    William Lawn...
    February 7, 2013 7:30 pm
    Oh I'm absolutely NOT a Republican, and I am VERY offended that you would label me one!!! Keep you name calling and insult hurling to yourself. That's just as bad as calling me a Democrat, seeing as they are pretty much the same.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Newton wrote...
    Sportsguru I agree maybe more to this story.
    February 7, 2013 9:51 am
    Then what the media zoo wants to tell us.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • gabewalker wrote...
    sounds like he's righting a wrong
    February 7, 2013 9:53 am
    he was fired for exposing abuse by an LAPD Ofc. which is nothing new, but coming from a fellow officer is... The victim and the victim's father statements supported his claim..Sound's like there was a cover up to protect the cop that Ofc. Dorner filed the complaint of abuse on...He's not a cop now but a very angry wronged man who had everything taken from him for doing what he knew was right...now they have a big problem on their hands... All of it is detailed in his "manifesto" http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_22538933/fired-lapd-officer-christopher-dorners-lengthy-manifesto
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hnuh wrote...
    Media is covering up
    February 7, 2013 10:08 am
    additional portions of his manifesto: Wishes Trayvon Martin had killed Zimmerman. Strong proponent of weapons bans. Strong 0bama supporter, and additional information. The guy is a sicko, and a leftist. Again, as usual the actual senseless violence comes from disturbed leftists. Again, as usual traditional leftist media attempts to cover it up.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • C"mon Man wrote...
    Wow!
    February 7, 2013 10:17 am
    Wonder if the Police Union will defend one of their own, or will the blue wall of silence pave over this debacle!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • gabewalker wrote...
    This is the guy they wronged...
    February 7, 2013 10:18 am
    LAPD should have stood with this guy.. He epitomizes everything that a police officer represents, and chose to stand by a cop that has abused civilians in the past... "I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me. I lived a good life and though not a religious man I always stuck to my own personal code of ethics, ethos and always stuck to my shoreline and true North. I didn't need the US Navy to instill Honor, Courage, and Commitment in me but I thank them for re-enforcing it. It's in my DNA." "You're going to see what a whistleblower can do when you take everything from him especially his NAME!!!" Is this not why we have the 2nd amendment...To protect from the tyranny of the government “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government" Thomas Jefferson...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William Lawn wrote...
    Yeah, killing the daughter of the guy who defended him
    February 7, 2013 11:39 am
    Is that what you think the 2nd amendment is about?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    you BUFOON!
    February 7, 2013 11:15 am
    no he is a flounder!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • flipper wrote...
    Exactly why we have a second amendment
    February 7, 2013 2:10 pm
    To protect ourselves from people like this.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }