Christopher Dorner mentor's hunch led to manhunt for him: L.A. Times

Christopher Dorner in undated photo

LOS ANGELES The training officer whose dispute with former Los Angeles police Officer Christopher Dorner led to his firing said Thursday it was her hunch that led police to name him as the suspect in the killing of an Orange County couple, setting off an intense and deadly manhunt that ended with Dorner's suicide in a mountain cabin.

"In my mind, it felt like such a long shot," said Teresa Evans.

Dorner, her partner and trainee, had accused her of police brutality in 2008, leading to his dismissal for making false statements in 2009. "But my gut feeling made it a lot stronger than that. I just knew. Something told me that there was some kind of a connection."

On Feb. 4, when few knew Dorner's name, police in National City, near San Diego, called Evans, saying they had found some of his belongings, including ammunition, pieces of a police uniform and a notebook with her name in it.

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"Just hearing his name was enough to make me feel sick," Evans said in an interview the Los Angeles Times.

That day she learned that Monica Quan, daughter of former LAPD Captain Randal Quan, and her fiance had been shot to death, their bodies found in a car at an Irvine parking garage.

Evans recalled that Randal Quan had represented Dorner in disciplinary hearings at the time of his firing.

She said she couldn't shake a "nagging, sinking feeling," wondering if Dorner could have killed Monica Quan in some kind of vendetta against her father.

"I have to call Irvine PD," she remembered thinking.

Irvine police quickly learned how valuable the tip was, discovering an online manifesto written by Dorner that outlined his motives and intentions and named several targets within the LAPD.

By Feb. 6, three days after the shooting, Irvine police held a news conference naming Dorner as their suspect. The next morning, authorities said, Dorner was opening fire on police officers, and for the six days that followed, he would be the subject of one of the biggest manhunts in California history.

By the time he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a flaming mountain cabin after a final violent standoff with law enforcement officers, he had killed four people, including a San Bernardino County sheriff's detective and a Riverside police officer.

LAPD officials confirmed Evans' account for the Times, and police Chief Charlie Beck said her actions saved lives.

Despite her strong suspicions, Evans was stunned when she learned her hunch had been correct.

"I was absolutely sick," Evans said. "I thought, 'What am I going to do?' At the time Mr. Dorner was terminated, I had a very uneasy feeling. I knew he was very upset and I had concerns that at some point, he may try to contact me. So, this was just validating the bad feeling I carried with me for years. I was scared to death."

As soon as the manifesto was discovered, Evans and her family were put under guard by a police detail, and remained that way until after Dorner's death.

"For the eight days that Dorner eluded capture," trhe newspaper says, "Evans remained silent and laid low, while Irvine and Los Angeles police officials kept secret her role in identifying the suspect. Evans had been Dorner's training officer and was at the center of the incident that led to his dismissal from the force. Authorities worried it might enrage Dorner further if he knew she had once again played a lead role in determining his fate."

She said that, despite more than a week passing, she has yet to return to her home, she has continued to receive threats, and the fear has yet to subside.

"I honestly don't think my life will ever be normal the way it was before," Evans said. "This was such an extraordinary circumstance, I don't know if I'm ever going to feel safe in my home again."

[EdmondsLaura]

What kudos I must giver CBS. I myself want to see a full investigation done. I never believed Dorner shot Quan and her Boyfriend and Ive never been sure that Dorner actually wrote what they claimed to be his manifesto. That Evans should be ashamed of herself and her immediate resignation should be in order. She absolutely lied. I believe Dorner wrote some of the manifesto and he did shoot at some police, but you wouldnt surrender to cops either, that is the same system who took his life (career). It amazes me how dumb peoiple can be to believe media's one sided story and the LAPD's justification for burning that man alive. I dont think for a second he comitted suicide either, the police burned him to death. I ask CBS news to investigate Dorner's complaints and bring to American public the truth. I also ask that the public demand a resignation from Evans, she is a liar and she assualted a mentally ill person. Dorner had to many detains to have been lying. AND please Please bring us the information Dorner sent to you media people oin the CD that was mailed to reporters. I completely am disgusted with how our police departments decide when and where they will be judge jury and executioner. What happened to our constitutional rights as Americans? We have given up almost all our rights and power to this government. When will we begin to say enough is enough? I urge people to say is now! NO INSTITUTION HAS A RIGHT TO BURN AN aMERICAN ALIVE. Thanks CBS but dig deeper. There is much more to be learned by this event.

[realreforms]

She knows she kicked that suspect and she was just trying to cover herself by lying. She essentially railroaded this guys career and set off a virtual war.

[Gregmich64]

It wouldn't surprise me if she did kick a mentally ill person. Especially, knowing the LAPD's history. But, Dorner was wrong for murdering people. She should be very ashamed of herself if she did kick a mentally ill person as Dorner claimed.

[150WATS]

It is hard to accept anything this woman is saying as truth because a hunch is not evidence. Just because Dorner is dead does not mean that the LAPD and other police agencies do not have to conduct investigations. The fact that her actions in the mistreatment of a mentally ill man, based on his report that she kicked and hit him. Should be of great concern to the LAPD because one of their own was fired because he told the truth. Ms Evans is still on the job and it does not appear that she received any discipline for her part in the incident. It is these kinds of situations which causes the community not to have confidence in the police. It would be good if Ms Evans would stop talking until she is asked to testify in the reopened investigation.

[credibility2]

The media should stop using a photo of this coward and murderer smiling. Media is trying to humanize an uncivilized savage and evil person. The media should show the images of those this low-life murdered.

[Bush-cheney-R-Terrorists]

She sounds as if she is getting ready to apply for disability. It seems clear that she did kick that mentally ill guy that Dorner originally complained about, so she should continue to keep a low profile. Why should she have cowered when she had a protective detail and her own weapons? Please! Dorner was a psycho and likely had a personality disorder which is why they canned him. Which probationary police officer is going to report his training officer for kicking a suspect?

[bakatya]

Excuse me. Her whole family was targeted, not just the officer. Remember, Dorner did not go after his representative. He killed the man's unarmed, non-law enforcement officer daughter. Please.

[sobobx]

Dorner's actions proved that whatever and/or whoever caused his firing were justified. The man was egotistical, evil, and crazy. Plain and simple, without all the usual political and mental illness BS. RIP to the victims.

[pickapeck13]

The only public knowledge of Dorner's actions came from a) the organization that was trying to gun him down, and b) the innocent civilians that Dorner left physically unharmed in his wake.

On the other hand, the LAPD displayed a rather reckless disregard for civilians, repeatedly firing on several innocent people without bothering to ascertain a positive identification.

Now we find that Dorner became a suspect without probable cause, and his accuser had, at the least, an axe to grind.

If Dorner did actually kill innocent people, then I'll agree with you, but I'm waiting for any kind of compelling evidence that he did so.

[margroks]

Uh...you're forgetting he killed the daughter and so of the man who represented him for whatever it was he was accused of. THEY were innocent civilians and Dorner was a monster for killing them no matter why he felt wornged.

[pickapeck13]

I was wondering if there was any evidence or witnesses pertaining to the slain couple, and I guess the answer is no. Jeez, it sounds as if this whole fiasco was set off by the "gut feeling" of the very officer who Dorner accused of wrongdoing. Now I wonder if Dorner had any dirt on Evans and her ilk.

I was also wondering how a person who qualifies as an officer in the U.S. military could not spell the word "knew." Beware of typewritten confessions (or online "manifestos").

This stinks to high heaven and I sure hope there will be an impartial investigation. Kudos to CBS for running this story.

[inmom63]

Excuse me?? What did she cause? Dorner chose to kill four innocent people....regardless of what else happened or when it happened, he was a murderer. He made those choices...she didn't.

[Watcher_Joelle]

What you can't read and articulate what happened ??????


Dig deep ... Deep Throat ... LAPD Deep Throat investigation ...

Here is your answer:

"For the eight days that Dorner eluded capture," trhe newspaper says, "Evans remained silent and laid low, while Irvine and Los Angeles police officials kept secret her role in identifying the suspect. Evans had been Dorner's training officer and was at the center of the incident that led to his dismissal from the force. Authorities worried it might enrage Dorner further if he knew she had once again played a lead role in determining his fate."

[Watcher_Joelle]

"I honestly don't think my life will ever be normal the way it was before," Evans said. "This was such an extraordinary circumstance, I don't know if I'm ever going to feel safe in my home again."

Yes Honey, we feel the same way about you ... "You will have to live with this for the rest of your life" ...

It came full circle and now your "Instant Karma" will play out.

You and the LAPD caused this situation to happen.

[Ducks223]

That's right.