After a massive weeklong manhunt, police cornered fugitive ex-LAPD cop Christopher Dorner in a cabin near Big Bear Lake.
It has since been learned that Dorner had been hiding in a nearby cabin for the past several days holding a couple captive since police found his burned out truck nearby several days earlier.
Early Tuesday Dorner initially fled in a stolen purple Nissan but crashed that vehicle and fled into the forest only to emerge nearby and carjack local resident, Richard Helterbrake on a nearby rural road. After allowing Helterbrake to retrieve his dog from his vehicle, Dorner then escaped in his white extended cab pickup.
The vehicle was spotted by Forest Service personnel and Dorner is reported to have fled into the forest and taken refuge in a rural cabin in the Big Bear area after a shoot out with two San Bernadino County Sheriff's Deputies which left both wounded. One deputy, Jeremiah McKay was airlifted in critical condition and was confirmed dead.
Numerous police quickly converged on the area and after a fierce gun battle the cabin was engulfed in flames. A single set of remains was recovered from the cabin on Wednesday but has not yet been confirmed as belonging to Dorner. The charred state of the remains means DNA testing will be required and that is expected to take several days. In the interim, the LAPD has announced that they will continue their protective details on the 40 people named as possible targets in Dorner's rambling 6,000 word manifesto.
Recordings of the police communications picked up on a police scanner appear to show the police discussing plans to burn the cabin. To hear the recordings click on the accompanying video link.
This latest revelation brings additional scrutiny and criticism on police methods in the wake of Chris Dorner's rampage which he argued was necessary to bring to light the corrupt practices of the LAPD and their institutional use of excessive force.
Comments