RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A fugitive ex-Los Angeles police officer was charged Monday with murdering a Riverside police officer and special circumstances that could bring the death penalty.
Christopher Dorner, 33, was also charged with the attempted murder of another Riverside officer and two Los Angeles Police Department officers, Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said.
The Los Angeles and Riverside officers were fired on in two separate shootings early Thursday after Dorner became the target of a manhunt, suspected of killing a former Los Angeles police captain’s daughter and her fiance the previous weekend.
“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.
Authorities obtained a nobail arrest warrant, which allows Dorner to be apprehended anywhere, Zellerbach said.
Southern California authorities were investigating more than 600 tips after offering a $1 million reward for information leading to Dorner’s arrest.
“We need the community’s help in this. There’s a lot more of you than there are of us,” said Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Jose Perez.
The manhunt for Dorner has left the ranks of the Los Angeles department stretched thin.
Along with responding to routine calls for service, police have been protecting dozens of families considered possible targets of Dorner, based on his alleged Facebook rant against those he held responsible for ending his career with the Police Department five years ago.
Police and city officials believe the reward, raised from both public and private sources, will encourage the public to stay vigilant.
“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.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck deflected questions about whether the reward would be paid if Dorner was found dead or alive. He called the phrase “ugly” and said he hoped no one else was injured, including the suspect.
As the search dragged on, worrisome questions emerged: How long could the intense search be sustained? And, if Dorner keeps evading capture, how do authorities protect dozens of former police colleagues?
Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the department has deployed 50 protection details to guard officers and their families who were deemed possible targets.
And there are no plans to reduce protection until Dorner is in custody, Los Angeles police Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.
“We realize it costs money and it gets expensive,” said Chuck Drago, a Florida-based police consultant. “But this is as clear of a threat as you can get. The money is always an issue but not when it’s somebody’s life at stake.”
One tip led police to surround and evacuate a Lowe’s Home Improvement store Sunday in the San Fernando Valley, but a search yielded no evidence that Dorner had been there.
Residents remained on edge in suburban Irvine, where the first two killings occurred. Some residents have kept their children at home, others no longer walk their dogs at night.
Monica Quan and her fiance were found shot dead on Feb. 3 in Irvine. Dorner was named as the suspect Wednesday.
A federal agent who requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation said officials had determined a call telling Randal Quan that he should have done a better job of protecting his daughter was a prank.
The violence escalated Thursday, when police say Dorner got into a shootout with police in Corona, grazing a Los Angeles officer’s head with a bullet before escaping. Authorities believe Dorner then used a rifle to ambush the two Riverside police officers, killing one and seriously wounding another.
Information for this article was contributed by Andrew Dalton of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 02/12/2013