Weapons found in ex-LAPD cop's truck as manhunt continues
Dorner, suspected of killing 3, posted online manifesto vowing revenge on former colleagues
The Associated Press
Posted: Feb 9, 2013 7:36 PM ET
Last Updated: Feb 9, 2013 11:02 PM ET
Investigators served a search warrant at the home of Christopher Dorner's mother in La Palma, Calif., on Friday, while authorities continued their manhunt for the fired policeman who is suspected of killing 3 people. (Patrick Fallon/Reuters)
Related
A law enforcement officer said weapons were found in the burned-out truck of a fugitive ex-LAPD officer wanted in 3 killings over the past several days. The truck was discovered Thursday in a mountain resort town, which is now the site of a police manhunt for Christopher Dorner.
The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Dorner, 33, is allegedly seeking revenge against former LAPD colleagues who he believed cost him his law enforcement career. He alleged in an online manifesto that he was wrongly fired for reporting that his training officer used excessive force.
Cmdr. Andrew Smith said Saturday that the department will reopen the disciplinary proceedings that led to his firing.
Police Chief Charlie Beck tells KCBS-TV the department will thoroughly re-examine Dorner's allegation to ensure the public that the LAPD is fair and transparent. He says if Dorner wants to surrender, the LAPD will "be happy to hear what he has to say."
Two search warrants executed
Authorities served a search warrant at a Southern California storage unit as part of their investigation.
'There's a million clues in the mountain. You've just got to be patient to find them.'—San Bernardino County sheriff's Det. Chad Johnson
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 Dorner's mother. Officers collected 10 bags of evidence including five electronic items.
Manhunt continues in mountain resort town
Searchers took advantage Saturday of a break from recent stormy weather in their hunt for Dorner, patrolling a mountain resort town in heat-sensing helicopters and fanning out on foot in fresh snow even as vacationing families and weekend skiers frolicked nearby.
San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies gather at the command post in Big Bear Lake, Calif., on Saturday. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)The stark blue skies that emerged after a Friday snowstorm allowed San Bernardino County sheriff's choppers to fly low over the forest and SWAT teams to look for tracks and other clues that might lead to Dorner whose burned out pickup truck was discovered Thursday in town.
San Bernardino County sheriff's Det. Chad Johnson said he and others were intent on finding Dorner but also looking for other telltale signs of his whereabouts.
"There's a million clues in the mountain. You've just got to be patient to find them," Johnson said.
Johnson said the foot search includes mountainous areas that are very steep and high climbs that often end in cliffs.
"It's a challenging day of work," Johnson said.
'One of the most dangerous fugitives'
The search was the third full day of the massive multi-agency effort now centered on this resort town about 129 kilometres northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Investigators continue to analyze the burned out truck discovered Thursday on a local road, and are trying and determine whether Dorner torched it or if it caught fire for other reasons.
Officers armed with semi-automatic weapons have been going door to door examining hundreds of vacant cabins, aware that they could be walking into a trap set by the well-trained former Navy reservist who knows their tactics and strategies.
"Christopher Dorner is probably one of the most dangerous fugitives that law enforcement has gone after in recent times," said Clint Van Zandt, former supervisor of FBI's profiling unit. "The challenge is, with his law enforcement and military background, he's very competent with weapons."
Sheriff's Det. Jeremiah MacKay, who began his patrol at 5 a.m. Saturday, said the operation was both massive and tactically complex.
"This one you just never know if the guy's going to pop out, or where he's going to pop out. We're hoping this comes to a close without more casualties. The best thing would be for him to give up," MacKay said.
Facebook manifesto vowed revenge
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, ordnance and survival training I've been given" to bring "warfare" to the LAPD and its families.
Christopher Dorner is seen on a surveillance video at an Orange County, Calif., hotel on January 28, 2013 in an image released by the Irvine Police Department. (Irvine Police Department/Handout/Reuters)Dorner served in the Navy, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and pistol expert medal. He was assigned to a naval undersea warfare unit and various aviation training units, according to military records. He took leave from the LAPD for a six-month deployment to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.
Last Friday was his last day with the Navy and also the day CNN's Anderson Cooper received a package that contained a note on it that read, in part, "I never lied." A coin riddled with bullet holes that former Chief William Bratton gave out as a souvenir was also in the package.
Police said it was a sign of planning by Dorner before the killing began.
On Sunday, police say Dorner shot and killed a couple in a parking garage at their condominium in Irvine. The woman was the daughter of a retired police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his firing.
Dorner wrote in his manifesto that he believed the retired captain had represented the interests of the department over his.
Hours after authorities identified Dorner as a suspect in the double murder, police believe Dorner shot and grazed an LAPD officer in Corona and then used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday, killing one and seriously wounding the other.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Sopranos star James Gandolfini dies in Italy
- James Gandolfini, whose portrayal of a brutal, emotionally delicate mob boss in HBO's 'The Sopranos' helped create one of TV's greatest drama series and turned the mobster stereotype on its head, died Wednesday in Italy. He was 51. more »
- B.C. First Nation sets fires to save bison
- A First Nation band is reviving the age-old practice of controlled burning in order to improve the health of forests and restore the population of the wood bison in a corner of northeastern B.C. more »
- Canada buys rare War of 1812 collection for $573K
- The government of Canada was the winning bidder for a large collection of letters, maps and other papers that once belonged to Sir John Sherbrooke, the lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia who conquered Maine for the British during the War of 1812. The collection sold for $573,000 at auction in London. more »
- Bob Rae quits as MP in 'very emotional' decision
- Bob Rae, who has represented the Toronto Centre riding for the Liberals since 2008, is stepping down as a Member of Parliament to devote more time to his work as a negotiator for First Nations in Northern Ontario. more »
Must Watch
Latest World News Headlines
- U.S. tries to allay Karzai anger over Taliban peace talks
- Hopes dimmed for talks aimed at ending the Afghan war when an angry President Hamid Karzai suspended security negotiations with the U.S. and scuttled a peace delegation to the Taliban, sending American officials scrambling to preserve the possibility of dialogue with the militants. . more »
- Few options for Brazil leader in face of protests
- With massive protests by middle-class Brazilians demanding wholesale government reforms, people all over this continent-sized country have reached a verdict on the streets and online: "The giant has awakened." more »
- Obama renews call to cut nuclear stockpiles
- Summoning the harsh history of this once-divided city, President Barack Obama on Wednesday cautioned the U.S. and Europe against "complacency" brought on by peace, pledging to cut America's deployed nuclear weapons by one-third if Cold War foe Russia does the same. more »
- Neil Macdonald: Washington's obsession with leakers
- Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are just the most prominent targets in an all-out legal and propaganda campaign that America's security apparatus is mounting against leakers everywhere, Neil Macdonald writes. more »
The National
The Current
- Why Canadians get sick from tap water Jun. 19, 2013 5:11 PM Author Chris Wood believes one of the greatest threats to the health of Canadians dribbles into their homes every day from the kitchen faucet.
- Bob Rae quits as MP in 'very emotional' decision
- Sopranos star James Gandolfini dies in Italy
- Wearing a mask at a riot is now a crime
- 2 men jailed in Dominican wedding fight back in Canada
- B.C. teacher duct-taped students' mouths
- Obesity now recognized as a disease
- Dozens of children seized from Manitoba Mennonite community
- Half of First Nations children live in poverty
- Huge ancient city at Angkor Wat revealed by lasers

