Firefight! Spree/Cop-Killer Christopher Dorner is in a Gun Battle with Fugitive Apprehension Team; He Has Wounded 2 Officers; Dorner Broke into a Cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains and Kidnapped 2; 1 Victim Escaped, and Called Cops; Dorner May Have an Accomplice

 

Fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dornan was believed to be holed up in this cabin. (KTTV)
 

Fugitive ex-cop reportedly exchanges fire with authorities
February 12, 2013
FoxNews.com

Police were in a fierce gunfight with the fugitive ex-LAPD cop suspected of killing three and declaring war on the force, with the wanted man holed up in a cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains, law enforcement sources said.

Two police officers were reportedly injured, and it was not known if Christopher Dorner was hit in the dramatic battled [sic] that unfolded early Tuesday afternoon in the resort area of Big Bear. A police source told The Associated Press Dorner, who has vowed not to be taken alive, burglarized a cabin on the mountain resort area where days ago his truck was found burning. Two people were bound inside the cabin, but one managed to escape and call authorities around 12:50 p.m. local time.

Fish and game wardens spotted a suspected stolen car near the scene and tried to stop it near Big Bear Lake. The driver, believed to have been Dorner, fled on foot, exchanging gunfire, sources told Fox News. Hours later, police were believed to have Dorner cornered in a cabin, exchanging gunfire with the suspect. Police were unable to say what weapons Dorner had, but said he was augmenting his gunfire with smoke grenades.

 

Dorner murder victim Monica Quan 

San Bernardino police were on the scene the county Sheriff's Department shut down Highway 38 to create a choke point, sources told Fox News. Four area schools were on lockdown.

The shootout came after a day of searching and speculation, with authorities continuing their door-to-door search in the rural
Southern California community, even as sources guessed Dorner may have made it over the border and into Mexico.

 

Dorner murder victim Keith Lawrence; Quan and Lawrence were engaged
 

Dorner, who claimed in a rambling manifesto posted online that he was booted from his job unfairly after official [sic] determined he falsely accused his partner of assaulting a suspect, is suspected of gunning down Monica Quan, 28, and her fiancé Keith Lawrence, 27, last week in Orange County. Quan’s father, Randall Quan, represented Dorner at the hearing in which he lost his job in 2009. He vowed to being [sic] "asymmetrical warfare" to the department, using his police and military training, and named 40 "targets." Police have guarded the homes of the targets even as they conducted what may be the biggest manhunt in state history.

The 33-year-old former Navy veteran is also suspected of shooting two police officers in Riverside, Calif., killing 11-year veteran Police Officer Michael Crain.

 

Christopher Dorner’s third murder victim: Riverside PD Officer Michael Crain, 34, “was shot to death Thursday while sitting in his patrol car”
 

Although statewide alerts were issued in California and Nevada, and authorities were watching the border, the most intense phase of the search has not left Big Bear since last week, when Dorner’s burning truck was found on a local forest road.

 

Two rogue cops: Christopher Dorner and William Bratton, undated 

In recent days, hundreds of police officers have scoured the mountain, searching cabins door-to-door. While the search on Big Bear was scaled back on Monday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department continued the hunt.. [sic]

"The search for Christopher Dorner will continue until he has been apprehended or it has been determined that he is no longer on the mountain," San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Tuesday.

 

“Christopher Dorner is seen on a surveillance video at an Orange County hotel on January 28, 2013 in this still image released by the Irvine Police Department.”
 

Meanwhile, an associate of Dorner was being tracked by investigators, according to court records that suggest Dorner may have received help as he eluded a massive law enforcement dragnet. A criminal complaint filed in federal court raises the possibility that Dorner may have been assisted by an associate identified as "J.Y."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.