The hunt for Christopher Dorner, a former police officer accused of two murders in California, appears to have narrowed with reports that the fugitive former police officer has been involved in a shootout with law enforcement officers on Tuesday afternoon.
Two deputies with the San Bernardino sheriff's department were shot and wounded in Big Bear, north-east of Los Angeles.
Local news reports said Dorner had broken into a home, tied up two people and stolen a pickup truck. Dorner was then confronted on a highway by fish and game wardens before fleeing on foot. He is now holed up in a cabin, according to the San Bernadino's sheriff's office.
News outlets, including CBS Los Angeles, aired the sounds of gunfire and shouting in live broadcasts from the Big Bear area.
Dorner is accused of targeting law enforcement officers and their families in three revenge-driven killings.
He had posted a lengthy online "manifesto" explaining agrudge against the LAPD, which fired him in 2008. It named dozens of people; since then, many officers have been given 24-hour protection.
On February 3 he is alleged to have shot dead Monica Quan, 28, the daughter of a retired police captain, and her fiancé Keith Lawrence, 27.
Four days later he allegedly ambushed two other officers at a traffic light, killing one, Michael Crain, 34, a veteran, and wounding the other, a trainee.
The net now appears to be closing in on Dorner. We will have live updates as the story develops.
Confirmed: two police officers airlifted to hospital
San Bernardino county sheriff’s department has issued a statement confirming that two police officers have been airlifted to hospital after an “exchange of gunfire between law enforcement and the suspect”.
Dorner has fled into the forest, according to police, and “barricaded himself in a cabin”, the department said in an email.
The sheriff's department said deputies responded to an address on Club View Drive after a call out regarding a stolen vehicle. The person who contacted police said the suspect bore a similarity to Dorner.
The suspect appears to have left the vehicle and continued on foot before exchanging fire with police.
Here is the full statement from San Bernardino county sheriff's department:
On Tuesday, February 12, 2013 at 12:22 p.m, deputies working the Big Bear area search for Christopher Dorner responded to the 1200 block of Club View Dr. for a reported stolen vehicle. The reporting party said the suspect took their vehicle and described the suspect as looking very similar to Dorner. Deputies immediately began a search on the ground and from the air for the vehicle.The vehicle was located at Hwy. 38 and Glass Rd. The suspect fled into the forest and barricaded himself inside a cabin. A short time later there was an exchange of gunfire between law enforcement and the suspect. Sheriff’s SWAT is onscene.Two law enforcement officers are being airlifted to a local hospital with unknown injuries.
LAPD commander: 'It's time to turn yourself in'
Los Angeles police department commander Andrew Smith has just held a brief press conference in downtown LA.
He urged Dorner to give himself up to police, "stop the bloodshed" and face the justice system.
"Enough is enough. It's time to turn yourself in. It's time to stop the bloodshed. It's time to let this event and let this incident be over," Smith said.
He said LAPD officers were still following up on the 1,045 clues they had received from members of the public. The LAPD has also sent resources to San Bernardino airport, Smith said, where they were waiting to be called upon by the San Bernardino county sheriff's department.
Smith said he could not confirm that people had been taken hostage by Dorner. "I can't confirm that anyone was held hostage at this time."
The commander reiterated that police had asked media not to show live broadcasting images from the Big Bear area as it could "put our officers at a disadvantage".
source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/12/christopher-dorner-shootout-big-bear-live
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