Former LAPD officer and Navy reservist Christopher Dorner born June 4, 1979 in New York state has obviously reached his limit. What's telling about the series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that left three people dead is the back story which psychologists say may go all the way to his childhood.
On Sunday Feb. 3, Dorner allegedly shot and killed a couple in a parking garage at their condominium in Irvine. Unknown at the time, the woman was the daughter of a retired LAPD police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his firing.
In his online manifesto entitled "Last Resort," published on Monday Feb 4, Dorner said he would use "every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordnance and survival training I've been given" to bring "warfare" to the LAPD and its families. Authorities say he has vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career in 2008. The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in his online ravings have led police to provide protection for as many as 50 families.
On Thursday Feb. 7, as units mustered to protect those named on the manifesto's hit list, he was spotted near Corona at 1:30am PST and exchanged shots with police patrol officers, grazing one in the head. About 20 minutes later he allegedly ambushed two officers stopped at a traffic light in Riverside, killing one and wounding the other. The LAPD's Harbor Division Station where Dorner last worked was highly guarded on Friday with two well armed officers posted at each gate of this normally quiet station.
One the same day, his abandoned truck was found burning in the mountains near Big Bear Lake. The manhunt continues non-stop today with no clue as to his whereabouts.
It's interesting that while most reports label his writings as long, chilling rantings filled with hatred and revenge, I find them largely coherent and full of information that can at least provide a motive for his sense of frustration that led to his impending self-destruction.
Apparently others are having similar thoughts. On Feb. 10, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck dismissed Dorner's manifesto as "the rantings of a killer." and then announced the reopening of the investigation of the complaint that led to Dorner's firing. A wise man he, as there are just too many assertions in Dorner's manifesto that may turn out to be true.
Authorities now say that camping gear was found along with weapons inside Dorner's burned-out pickup truck. They also said that the vehicle found near Big Bear Lake was so charred that the on-site investigators couldn't tell much more about what it might have contained.
On Saturday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a $1 million reward, raised from private and public donors, at a news conference at LAPD headquarters. "Our dedication to catch this killer remains steadfast," Villaraigosa said. "We will not tolerate this reign of terror."
While I'm certainly not condoning Dorner's actions, it will be interesting to see what really happened when the man in the LAPD uniform decided to cross the "Thin Blue Line." Sadly it is unlikely that Dorner will survive his misadventures. It is clear however, that the resulting fallout descending on the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD is just beginning.
You need to be a member of San Pedro News Pilot to add comments!
Join San Pedro News Pilot