The manhunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a killing spree converged Tuesday on a mountain cabin where authorities believe he barricaded himself inside, engaged in a shootout that killed a deputy and then never emerged as the home went up in flames.
A single gunshot was heard from within. San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said Tuesday night that a charred body was found inside the burned-out cabin.
Investigators will use forensic tests to determine if the body belongs to Christopher Dorner. If the results are positive, the search for the most wanted man in America over the last week will have ended the way he had expected — death, with the police pursuing him. He is believed to have killed at least four people.
KABC; Inset: Splash News
HELLFIRE: Flames consume the Big Bear Lake, Calif., cabin where fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was holed up yesterday during a police siege.
Thousands of officers had been on the hunt for the former Navy reservist since police said he launched a campaign to exact revenge against the Los Angeles Police Department for his firing. They say he threatened to bring "warfare" to officers and their families, spreading fear and setting off a search for him across the Southwest and Mexico.
"Enough is enough. It's time for you to turn yourself in. It's time to stop the bloodshed," LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said at a news conference held outside police headquarters in Los Angeles, a starkly different atmosphere than last week when Dorner was on the loose and officials briefed the news media under heavy security in an underground hallway.
A short time after Smith spoke Tuesday, smoke began to rise from the cabin in the snow-covered woods near Big Bear Lake, a resort town about 80 miles east of Los Angeles. Flames then engulfed the building — images that were broadcast on live television around the world. TV helicopters showed the fire burning freely with no apparent effort to extinguish it.
"We have reason to believe that it is him," said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman, adding that she didn't know how the fire started. She noted there was gunfire between the person in the cabin and officers around the home before the blaze began.
Earlier, there were conflicting reports about whether a body had been found inside shortly after the fire, with both the Los Angeles and San Bernardino authorities disputing the find in separate news conferences. But an official later told the AP a body had been seen in the rubble. The official requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
Until Tuesday, authorities didn't know whether Dorner was still near Big Bear Lake, where they found his burned-out pickup last week.
Police find charred body in burned cabin where rogue cop Christopher Dorner was holed up; police think it's him
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Police find charred body in burned cabin where rogue cop Christopher Dorner was holed up; police think it's him
