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| California Highway Patrol officers search a vehicle for former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner at a checkpoint near Big Bear Lake, Calif, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. Law enforcement officers working in falling snow searched the Southern California mountain for Dorner, who is accused of carrying out a killing spree because he felt he was unfairly fired from his job. |
LOS ANGELES
(AP) -- Seeking leads in a massive manhunt, Los Angeles authorities on
Sunday offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest
of Christopher Dorner, the former police officer suspected in three
killings.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced
the reward, raised through several 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."
Meanwhile,
authorities said camping gear was found along with weapons inside
Dorner's burned-out pickup truck. The vehicle found Thursday in the ski
resort town of Big Bear Lake was so charred that investigators couldn't
be more specific about the nature of its contents, Sgt. Rudy Lopez said.
Also
Sunday, police investigated a taunting phone call that may have been
made by Dorner to the father of the woman they believe he killed last
week. Two law enforcement officers who requested anonymity because of
the ongoing investigation told The Associated Press they are trying to
determine if the call days after the killing was made by the 33-year-old
fugitive or a man posing as him.
SWAT teams
with air support and bloodhounds fanned out for the fourth day to search
for Dorner, who has vowed revenge against several former LAPD
colleagues whom he blames for ending his career.
The
effort was significantly scaled back as the weekend went on, with 25
officers and a single helicopter looking for clues in the forest and
going door-to-door at some 600 cabins in the San Bernardino mountains,
about 80 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
On
Saturday, Chief Charlie Beck said officials would re-examine the
allegations by Dorner that his law enforcement career was undone by
racist colleagues. While he promised to hear out Dorner if he
surrenders, Beck stressed that he was ordering a review of his 2007 case
because he takes the allegation of racism in his department seriously.
"I
do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that
their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we
do," the chief said in a statement.
Authorities
suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the
past week that have left three people dead. Authorities say he has vowed
revenge against several former colleagues. The killings and threats
that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide
protection to 50 families, Beck said.
A
captain who was named a target in the manifesto posted on Facebook told
the Orange County Register he has not stepped outside his house since he
learned of the threat.
"From what I've seen
of (Dorner's) actions, he feels he can make allegations for injustice
and justify killing people and that's not reasonable," said Capt. Phil
Tingirides, who chaired a board that stripped Dorner of his badge. "The
end never justifies the means."
Investigators
have been examining the truck to determine if it broke down or was set
ablaze as a diversion. Police say the truck had a broken axle.
Investigators are trying to determine whether it was already broken when
they found it, or whether it was damaged when it was towed away.
Also,
newly released surveillance video showed Dorner tossing several items
into a Dumpster behind an auto parts store in National City on Monday.
The store's manager told FOX5 in San Diego that an employee found a
magazine full of bullets, a military belt and a military helmet. Majid
Yahyai said he and the employee took the items across the street to a
police station.
On Friday night, authorities
served a search warrant and collected evidence from a Buena Park storage
unit as part of their investigation. Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen
wouldn't elaborate on the nature of the evidence or say who had rented
the unit.
Earlier Friday, another warrant was
served at a La Palma house belonging to Dorner's mother. Officers
collected 10 bags of evidence, including five electronic items.
In
his online manifesto, Dorner vowed to 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.
Dorner
served in the Navy, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and a pistol expert
medal. He was assigned to a naval undersea warfare unit and various
aviation training units, according to military records. He took leave
from the LAPD for a six-month deployment to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.
The
flight training that he received in the Navy prompted the
Transportation Security Administration to issue an alert, warning the
general aviation community to be on the lookout for Dorner. The extent
of his potential flying skills wasn't known, the bulletin said.
Feb.
1 was his last day with the Navy and also the day CNN's Anderson Cooper
received a package that contained a note on it that read, in part, "I
never lied." A coin riddled with bullet holes that former Chief William
Bratton gave out as a souvenir was also in the package.
Police said it was a sign of planning by Dorner before the killing began.
On
Feb. 3, police say Dorner shot and killed a couple in a parking garage
at their condominium in Irvine. The woman was the daughter of a retired
police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary
proceedings that led to his firing.
Dorner wrote in his manifesto that he believed the retired captain had represented the interests of the department over his.
Hours
after authorities identified Dorner as a suspect in the double murder,
police believe Dorner shot and grazed an LAPD officer in Corona and then
used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday,
killing one and wounding the other. A funeral for Officer Michael Crain,
an 11 year veteran, was scheduled for Wednesday.
The
crime spree spanned across a wide swath of Southern California,
prompting several police agencies, including the FBI and US Marshall
Service, to form a joint investigative task force.
