A massive manhunt reached into California mountains, to neighboring states and even into Mexico as authorities continued their search for a bitter and angry ex-policeman suspected of killing three people and terrorizing Southern California in a vendetta against his former department.
Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who was fired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008, is thought to have shot and killed two police officers, as well as the daughter of the now-retired police officer who handled his appeal against being fired.
The 6-foot, 270-pound former Navy Reserve lieutenant, considered a skilled marksman with military training, posted on his Facebook page a lengthy, rambling manifesto outlining his grievances with LAPD officials and vowed to “terminate” them and their families.
“I never had an opportunity to have a family of my own. I’m terminating yours,” Mr. Dorner said in the manifesto, posted online by KTLA-TV. “You have misjudged a sleeping giant.”
The manifesto accuses the LAPD and numerous specific officers of racism and other slights but also holds forth on a wide variety of subjects in a manner that defies political categorization.
Mr. Dorner’s manifesto endorses an assault-weapons ban, praises several CNN journalists, including Piers Morgan and Anderson Cooper, lauds President Obama and denounces his opponents as “birthers,” boosts the goals of “LGBT community and supporters” and endorses Hillary Rodham Clinton for president in 2016.
But in other parts of the manifesto, he says his favorite 2012 presidential candidate was Republican Jon Huntsman Jr., he cheers on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and advises him to lose weight, cites Colin L. Powell as a personal role model, and calls “the honorable President George H.W. Bush” his second-favorite president and wishes him a good recovery from recent health problems.
The personal parts of the manifesto specifically threaten all Los Angeles police officers and implies that his rampage will end only with his death.
“I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty,” Mr. Dorner says. “Unfortunately, I will not be alive to see my name cleared. That’s what this is about, my name. A man is nothing without his name.”
The search for Mr. Dorner moved Thursday afternoon to Big Bear, Calif., after police found a burned-out vehicle matching the description of his blue Nissan Titan truck. Later in the day, San Bernardino police confirmed the truck as Mr. Dorner’s and found tracks leading away from the truck. Officials declined to say exactly where the tracks went, except that they had not led directly to Mr. Dorner.
“This complex and violent investigation has led to this mountain,” LAPD Assistant Chief Michel Moore said.
San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Mr. Dorner has not been located, but a door-to-door search was under way and would continue “as long as we can.”
Overnight temperatures in the mountains were expected to fall into the teens, and a snowstorm was predicted.
The multicity rampage began Sunday with a double homicide in a parking lot of an apartment building in Irvine.
Monica Quan, 28, daughter of retired Capt. Randy Quan, and her 27-year-old fiance, Keith Lawrence, were shot and killed as they sat in a vehicle, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck.
In addition to Mr. Quan being among the officers named in Mr. Dorner’s manifesto, Mr. Lawrence also was a public-safety officer, at the University of Southern California.
Police named Mr. Dorner the suspect on Wednesday. That night, Mr. Dorner was spotted at a San Diego marina as he attempted unsuccessfully to steal a boat from its owner, then fled, Chief Beck said.
At 1:25 a.m. Thursday in Corona, officers acting on a tip exchanged gunfire with Mr. Dorner. One officer was grazed in the head by a bullet.
Twelve hours later, Mr. Dorner fired on two Riverside police officers on routine patrol at an intersection, killing one and wounding the other in what the chief referred to as a “cowardly ambush. They had no opportunity to fight back.”
The Riverside officer killed at the scene was described as an 11-year veteran of the force, but his name was not immediately released.
Chief Beck said the suspect should be considered “armed and extremely dangerous.” In his manifesto, Mr. Dorner, said he was using a sniper rifle.
“Of course he knows what he’s doing. We trained him,” Chief Beck said. “He was also a member of the armed forces. It is extremely worrisome and scary, especially to the police officers involved.”
The chief said he had mobilized 40 protection details throughout Southern California, and officers’ nerves were clearly on edge. In what was described as a case of mistaken identity, two officers fired Thursday morning on a vehicle in Torrance matching the description of the one being driven by Mr. Dorner.
The two people in the vehicle were wounded by gunfire. One was treated at a hospital and released, while the other remains in the hospital in stable condition, said Chief Beck. Authorities in Nevada joined in, searching a Las Vegas area house owned by the suspect, and officials in Arizona and Mexico were on alert.
Mr. Dorner was fired in September 2008 for making false statements about a training officer. He said in his online statement, which Los Angeles police say is authentic, that he accused another officer of kicking a homeless man in the face, but that his superiors fired him even though “you knew I was innocent.”
The suspect, who is black, also accused fellow officers of making racially charged statements and picking on members of racial minorities.
“The attacks will stop when the department states the truth about my innocence. PUBLICLY!!!” he said.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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