More than 100 police officers were going door-to-door and searching for new tracks in the snow in hopes of catching suspected cop-killer Christopher Dorner overnight in Big Bear Lake, Calif., before he strikes again, as laid out in his rambling online manifesto.
Police late Thursday night alerted the residents near Big Bear Lake that Dorner was still on the loose after finding his truck burning earlier in the day.
San Bernardino County Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said authorities can't say for certain that he's not in the area. More than half of the 400 homes in the area had been searched by police as of late Thursday. Police traveled in two-man teams.
Bachman urged people in the area not to answer the door, unless they know the person or see a law enforcement officer in uniform.
After discovering Dorner's burning truck near a Bear Mountain ski resort, police discovered tracks in the snow leading away from the vehicle. The truck has been taken to the San Bernardino County Sheriffs' crime lab.
Bachman would not comment on Dorner's motive for leaving the car or its contents, citing the ongoing investigation. Police are not aware of Dorner's having any ties to others in the area.
She added that the search in the area would continue as long as the weather cooperates. About three choppers were being used overnight, but weather conditions were deteriorating, according to Bachman.
"He could be anywhere at this point," said San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon, who is expected to address the media later this morning.
Dorner, 33, a former Los Angeles police officer and Navy reservist, is suspected of killing one police officer and injured two others Thursday morning in Riverside, Calif. He was also accused of killing two civilians Sunday. And he allegedly released an angry "manifesto" airing grievances against police and warning of coming violence toward cops.
In the manifesto Dorner published online, he threatened at least 12 people by name, along with their families. "Your lack of ethics and conspiring to wrong a just individual are over. Suppressing the truth will leave to deadly consequences for you and your family," Dorner wrote in his manifesto.
One passage from the manifesto read, "I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."
"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own," it read. "I'm terminating yours."
Hours after the extensive manhunt dragged police to Big Bear Lake, CNN's Anderson Cooper said Dorner had sent him a package at his New York office that arrived Feb. 1, although Cooper said he never knew about the package until Thursday. It contained a DVD of court testimony, with a Post-It note signed by Dorner claiming, "I never lied! Here is my vindication."
It also contained a keepsake coin bearing the name of former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton that came wrapped in duct tape, Cooper said. The duct tape bore the note, "Thanks, but no thanks Will Bratton."
Bratton told Cooper on his program, "Anderson Cooper 360," that he believed he gave Dorner the coin as he was headed overseas for the Navy, Bratton's practice when officers got deployed abroad. Though a picture has surfaced of Bratton, in uniform, and Dorner, in fatigues, shaking hands, Bratton told Cooper he didn't recall Dorner or the meeting.
Police say Dorner began his killing spree over the weekend, when a popular assistant women's college basketball coach, Monica Quan, 28, and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence, 27, were found dead in their car in Irvine, Calif., Sunday.
Police identified Dorner as a suspect in those slayings late Wednesday night after discovering the online manifesto allegedly written by the suspect.
"A particular interest at this point in the investigation is a multi-page manifesto in which the suspect has implicated himself in the slayings," Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard said at a news conference Wednesday.
Police say Dorner bore a grudge against Quan's father, retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, for his firing from the department.
Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired for making false statements.
Randy Quan, who became a lawyer in retirement, represented Dorner in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal.
Dorner allegedly went to a yacht club near San Diego at approximately 10 p.m. local time Wednesday, where police say he attempted to steal a boat and flee to Mexico.
He aborted the attempted theft when the boat's propeller became entangled in a rope, law enforcement officials said.
"He pointed a handgun at the victim [at the yacht club] and demanded the boat," said Lt. David Rohowits of the San Diego Police Department.
A badge and identification belonging to Dorner have been found in San Diego, according to San Diego Police Sgt. Ray Battrick.
Two LAPD officers were in Corona on special detail to check on one of the individuals named in Dorner's manifesto exchanged gunfire with a man believed to be Dorner at 1:25 a.m. Thursday. Dorner allegedly grazed one of them but missed the other.
Approximately 20 minutes later, After Dorner allegedly shot at LAPD officers in Corona, he fled and encountered two Riverside police officers stopped at a red light in their police car. Dorner used a rifle to shoot through their windshield, killing one officer and injuring the other, police said.
The deceased officer was a 34-year-old, 11-year veteran of the police department. The injured officer, age 27, was expected to make a full recovery.
"They were on routine patrol stopped at a stop light when they were ambushed," Lt. Guy Toussant of the Riverside Police Department said.
By sunrise, jittery police officers in Los Angeles opened fired on a blue truck in Torrance, similar to the suspects, but the people inside were innocent bystanders.
Dorner just finished his military career as a lieutenant last Friday. His only overseas deployment was to a Navy base in Bahrain. He also received a Rifle Marksman Ribbon and Pistol Expert Medal, meaning he received superior scores when he tested at the range.
Police described Dorner as black, 6-feet tall and weighing 270 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes. LINK
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