Charred remains found in cabin are likely Christopher Dorner: sources

CBS

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. The manhunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a killing spree converged may have ended Tuesday at a mountain cabin where authorities believe he barricaded himself inside, engaged in a shootout that killed a deputy, and then never emerged as the home went up in flames.

Investigators found charred human remains in the burned out cabin's debris, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office, which said forensic techniques would be used to try to identify the body.

CBS News correspondent John Miller says two law enforcement sources tell him authorities are confident the body is that of fugitive Christopher Dorner, 33. Their confidence was based on the facts that the man who stole a truck fit Dormer's description, that the same man was chased to the cabin, that he tossed a green smoke grenade at officers from inside the cabin and used a 50 caliber weapon to fire on them.

Based on the fact that the house was surrounded and no one was seen fleeing, Miller adds, authorities feel the body is indeed that of Dorner.

A single gunshot was heard from within the cabin before the fire erupted, authorities say.

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Gun battle with wanted ex-cop - caught on tape

If the results of the forensic tests are positive, the search for the most wanted man in America over the last week will have ended the way he had expected - in his death, with police pursuing him. He is believed to have killed at least four people, two of them law enforcement officers.

Thousands of officers had been hunting for the former Navy reservist since police said he launched a campaign to exact revenge against the Los Angeles Police Department for his firing. They say he threatened to bring "warfare" to officers and their families, spreading fear and setting off a search for him across the Southwest and Mexico.

"Enough is enough. It's time for you to turn yourself in. It's time to stop the bloodshed," LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said at a news conference held outside police headquarters in Los Angeles, a starkly different atmosphere than last week, when Dorner was on the loose and officials briefed the news media under heavy security in an underground hallway.

A short time after Smith spoke Tuesday, smoke began to rise from the cabin in the snow-covered woods near Big Bear Lake, a resort town about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Flames then engulfed the building; images of the fire were broadcast on live television around the world. TV helicopters showed the fire burning freely with no apparent effort to extinguish it.

San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman said authorities didn't know how the fire started. She noted there was gunfire between the person in the cabin and officers around the home before the blaze began.

There were conflicting reports about whether a body had been found inside shortly after the fire, with both the Los Angeles and San Bernardino authorities disputing the find in separate news conferences. But Miller's sources told him a body had been seen in the rubble.

Until Tuesday, authorities didn't know whether Dorner was still near Big Bear Lake, where they found his burned-out pickup last week.

28 Photos

Manhunt for suspected LAPD cop killer

It's believed Dorner broke into a house near where his truck was found and tied two people up.

About mid-day Tuesday, wardens from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife spotted a purple Nissan car that had been reported stolen, department spokesman Lt. Patrick Foy said. The wardens recognized the driver as someone matching Dorner's description.

They pursued the driver and briefly lost him when he turned onto a side road. Three other wardens in two vehicles turned onto the road a short time later, and were searching for the car when they saw a white pickup truck driving toward them erratically and at a high rate of speed.

Wardens got a close look at the driver and realized it was Dorner, who rolled down his window and opened fire, Foy said.

Aerial view of scene in Big Bear, Calif. where man thought to be fugitive Christopher Dorner engaged in gun battle with authorities

/ CBS/KCAL/KCBS

The wildlife vehicle was hit numerous times, and one of the wardens was able to get out and fire at the driver, who escaped on foot after crashing his truck.

After holing up in the cabin, there was a second gun battle with San Bernardino County deputies, two of whom were shot. One died and the other was expected to live after undergoing surgery.

"We're heartbroken," Big Bear Lake Mayor Jay Obernolte said of the deputy's death and the wounding of his colleague. "Words can't express how grateful we are for the sacrifice those men have made in defense of the community, and our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families."

Earlier, a SWAT team surrounded the cabin and used an armored vehicle to break out the cabin windows, the official said. The officers then pumped a gas into the cabin and blasted a message over a loudspeaker: "Surrender or come out."

The armored vehicle then tore down each of the cabin's four walls, like peeling back the layers of an onion, the official said.

Police say Dorner began his run on Feb. 6 after they connected the slayings of a former police captain's daughter and her fiance with an angry Facebook rant they said he posted. Threats against the LAPD led officials to assign officers to protect officers and their families.

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Within hours of the release of photos of the 6-foot, 270-pounder described as armed and "extremely dangerous," police say, Dorner unsuccessfully tried to steal a boat in San Diego to flee to Mexico and opened fire on two patrol cars in Riverside County, shooting three officers and killing one.

Jumpy officers guarding one of the targets named in the rant shot and injured two women delivering newspapers Thursday in Torrance because they mistook their pickup truck for Dorner's.

Police found weapons and camping gear inside the charred truck in Big Bear. Helicopters using heat-seeking technology searched the forest from above while scores of officers, some using bloodhounds, scoured the ground and checked hundreds of vacation cabins, many of which are vacant this time of year, in the area.

A snowstorm hindered the search and may have helped cover his tracks, though authorities were hopeful he would leave fresh footprints if hiding in the wilderness.

Map showing Glass Road in Big Bear region of California

/ Google/Stamen

Dorner's anger with the department dated back at least five years, when he was fired for filing a false report accusing his training officer of kicking a mentally ill suspect. Dorner, who is black, claimed in the rant that he was the subject of racism by the department and fired for doing the right thing.

He said he would get even with those who wronged him as part of his plan to reclaim his good name.

"You're going to see what a whistleblower can do when you take everything from him especially his NAME!!!" the rant said. "You have awoken a sleeping giant."

Chief Charlie Beck, who initially dismissed the allegations in the rant, said he reopened the investigation into his firing -- not to appease the ex-officer, but to restore confidence in the black community, which long had a fractured relationship with police that has improved in recent years.

One of the targets listed in the manifesto was former LAPD Capt. Randal Quan, who represented Dorner before the disciplinary board. Dorner claimed he put the interests of the department above his.

The first victims were Quan's daughter, Monica Quan, 28, a college assistant basketball coach, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, 27. They were shot multiple times in their car in a parking garage near their Orange County condo.

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.

He left the service on Feb. 1.

[The_Alchemyst]

Sign this We the People petition condemning the LAPD's actions!
http://wh.gov/dnzr

[EMT51]

LET S KEEP THEM IN PRAYER

[Watcher_Joelle]

After this is over ... The LAPD will be watched by Hawks. Sometimes it takes a hideous event to expose the true offenders of justice. The LAPD cannot hide behind a badge of honor ... when there is no honor to defend. I would say they lost their scruples long ago when a video camera showed proof of their indignities and digressions - Remembering Rodney King fiasco.

If you're not mortified now ... wait until the eyes fall in discust. All Truth will prevail in the 5th Dimension because now "Instant Karma" is alive and well.

[LarryMoniz]

Because of the sequence of events, I'm beginning to conclude Dorner is alive and well and playing law enforcement like a fiddle. Dorner would have had psychological testing for the Navy and for LAPD. He must have passed. I suspect he's got a hiddy hole, or many of them throughout the mountains and will be striking at will, now that he's presumed dead. That would account for his allegedly having 30 weapons. At most, a combatant will carry three or four weapons. It's a factor of weight load. Two handguns, and two long guns, each with sufficient ammo could weight 40 pounds. Add in food, water, clothing and sleeping gear and a combat load-out could weigh 80 pounds. A heavy load for a snow-covered mountain. If one assumes his gear was cached in similar quantities, then he could have seven or eight combat loadouts stashed in multiple locations. I believe Dorner is a wily strategist who, realizing the odds were too great to succeed headon against well trained police and federal marshals, he's decided to wage a terror campaign of planned strikes when and where law enforcement least expects it. He's very carefully avoided hurting civilians with no connection to law enforcement. This isn't a psychopath, but a calculated, as his sister service, The U.S. Army says; an Army of One. Given the history of the LAPD's numerous coverups of police brutality and the "long blue line of silence" I suspect the FBI should quietly open an independent investigation of Dorner's allegations that he was framed. Cops Allege Dorner has psychological issues. As has been noted before: It's not paranoia if someone is really after you.

[lollyikens]

This horrible situation is finally over, I hope. This man snapped and one can only wonder why. Many people lose their jobs for different reasons, even being fired but do not start killing people. He must have had a "I am owed this or that" personality.

[Wingsfan1983]

There is no redeaming issue in this case. I would like to see the results of the investigation and what the police find out about the hearing to fire Dorner.

In any event this persons 15 minuites of fame went down in flames. Please let this be a lesson to the next idiot.

[yamc1]

Great job by the police to make sure this murderous nitwit will never kill anyone again.
Waaa, I was fired! The police were mean to me, sniff.
I've been fired and picked on but I didn't slaughter people to get my point across you moron.
I'm sure the people that he murdered will be forgotten but you can rest assure CNN will do another series about racism in America that no one will watch.
How about a series about the destruction of our inner cities. Where's the outrage? Where's the CNN doing a program on that? No, I think not. We wouldn't want to offend anyone.
Good job to the Police and to the innocent victims, RIP.

[davefromga]

Good job to the LAPD for the successful coverup. I don't condone what he did, but I do believe the good ole boy network was in full force. I hope some outside agency investigates and if they are honest, I believe heads will roll, starting at the top!

[bobnjersey]

[Where's the CNN doing a program on that? No, I think not. ]
--------------------------------------------------
so ... you have a problem w/ cnn?

do you have a cache of weapons?

[well_I_say]

If they had arrested this guy probably the same people complaining about the police setting fire to the cabin would be saying the police should have taken him out instead of letting him live and making the tax payers foot the bill for his trial and three squares in jail.

[superfly885]

You are probably right...No you are definitely right. I now have the inclination to listen to Metallica's "Fuel for Fire"...

[superfly885]

https://soundcloud.com/john-mayson/dorner-police-1

This is how the fire started. Pay close attention to the statement at the end by the officer... "...Just like we planned..."

[ChristianKoi]

The LAPD has long been a troubled law enforcement agency. Basic elements of effective policing - clear policies, training, accountability, and confidence of the citizenry - have been absent for years. Far too often, LAPD officers have shown a lack of respect for the civil rights and dignity of the people of Los Angeles. While some of LAPD officers of the force are hardworking and committed to public safety, too many officer of every rank do not understand or choose to ignore the boundaries of constitutional policing. I believe at one point Christopher Dorner, was a good apple -- who wanted to simply expose LAPD for their misconduct. While some would argue that, given the difficulty of police work, officers must at times police harshly and bend the rules when a community is confronted with seemingly intransigent high levels of crime. Policing is undeniable difficult; however, experience and study in the policing field have made it clear that bending the rules and ignoring the Constitution makes effective policing much more challenging. LAPD's failure to ensure that its officer routinely respect the Constitution and the rule of law undermines trust within the very communities whose cooperation the Department most needs to enforce the law and prevent inside-department crimes. This goes to show you as systematic violations of civil rights erode public confidence, policing becomes more difficult, less safe, and less effective, and until LAPD gets a hold of this inside law-enforcement crimes will continue in its increases. - Christian Koi

[sickofwhiners]

Does any of what you just said justify the murder of 4 people? I agree that if there are problems, they need to be addressed but that, in no way, justifies murder by an offended party.