Ex-LA officer eludes manhunt

Police scour snow-swept mountains for suspect in deadly rampage

Members of the California Highway Patrol search a truck Friday in Big Bear Lake, Calif., for Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles police officer accused of going on a killing rampage because he felt he was unfairly fired from his job.
Members of the California Highway Patrol search a truck Friday in Big Bear Lake, Calif., for Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles police officer accused of going on a killing rampage because he felt he was unfairly fired from his job.

— More than 100 officers were driven Friday 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 retaliate against those he blamed for ending his police career.

With bloodhounds in tow, officers went door to door as snow fell, aware of 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.

“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 Christopher 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 Los Angeles Police Department and its families.

At noon, police and U.S. marshals accompanied by computer forensics specialists served a search warrant on his mother’s house in the Orange County city of La Palma. Dorner’s mother and sister were there at the time, and a police spokesman said they were cooperating.

The manhunt had Southern California residents on edge. Unconfirmed sightings were reported near Barstow, about 60 miles north of the mountain search, at Point Loma base near San Diego and in downtown Los Angeles.

Some law enforcement officials speculated that he appeared to be everywhere and nowhere and that he was trying to spread out their resources.

For the time being, their focus was on the mountains 80 miles east of Los Angeles - a snowy wilderness, filled with deep canyons, thick forests and jagged peaks, that create peril as much for Dorner as the officers hunting him. Bad weather grounded helicopters with heat-sensing technology.

After the discovery of his burned-out pickup Thursday afternoon, SWAT teams in camouflage started scouring the mountains.

As officers worked through the night, a storm blew in, possibly covering the trail of tracks that had led them away from his truck but offering the possibility of new trails to follow.

“The snow is great for tracking folks as well as looking at each individual cabin to see if there’s any signs of forced entry,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon.

The small army has the advantage of strength in numbers and access to resources, such as special weapons, to bring him in.

“We’re prepared to use our expertise in terms of special weapons and tactics to address any threat that he poses,” LA police Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said. “We’re working with other agencies ... to make sure we take the advantage of our side as much as we can.”

In his online rant, Dorner sprinkled in military and police parlance, seemingly baiting authorities.

“Any threat assessments you generate will be useless,” it read. “This is simple. I know your TTP’s [techniques, tactics and procedures] and PPR’s [preplanned response]. I will mitigate any of your attempts at preservation.”

Without the numbers that authorities have, Dorner will likely rely on the element of surprise, experts said.

“He doesn’t even have to stand and fight,” Hall said. “He makes his shot of opportunity and flees.”

It’s an advantage that Dorner is well aware of. In his posting, he wrote: “I have the strength and benefits of being unpredictable, unconventional, and unforgiving. Do not waste your time with briefs and tabletops.

“Whatever preplanned responses you have established for a scenario like me, shelve it,” he said.

Court documents obtained Friday show an ex-girlfriend of Dorner’s called him “severely emotionally and mentally disturbed” after the two split in 2006.

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 LA Police Department 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 typically given out as a souvenir by the LA police chief was also in the package, riddled with bullet holes.

Police believe that indicates some level of preplanning.

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 that 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 that Dorner shot and grazed an officer in Corona and then used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

Information for this article was contributed by Jeff Wilson, Bob Jablon, Michael Blood, Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, Linda Deutsch, John Antczak, Ken Ritter, Elliot Spagat and Julie Watson of The Associated Press.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 02/09/2013

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