The details of the violent last stand for a fugitive ex-LAPD remain complex as much as murky, which seemingly ended after investigators began picking through the rubble of a burned-out cabin by Southern California's Big Bear resort.
The San Bernandino's County Sheriff's Office said that charred human remains were found in the rubble where Christopher Dorner is said to have been cornered on Tuesday.
"We have reason to believe it is him," the sheriff's spokesman Cynthia Bachman said, adding that forensic test will be carried out to confirm the identification.
LAPD Commander Andrew Smith also said it was "highly likely" that Dorner was inside when authorities heard a single gunshot, seeing the cabin in flames. This all ended in Seven Oaks, a small community in the San Bernandino Mountains, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Smith added that the LAPD is continuing under "tactical alert... as if he's still out there." But breaking news on Wednesday said a California driver's license, belonging to Christopher Droner was found in the burned cabin with a body.
In the continuing saga that has lasted two weeks, Tuesday was another bloody and chaotic day in the Dorner manhunt. Earlier on Tuesday, Dorner killed one sheriff's deputy and wounded another in a ferocious gun battle before taking refuge in the nearby cabin.
Since Thursday, according to police reports, Dorner had been holed up in other cabin about 20 to 30 yards from the site. He was discovered by two cleaning women who entered the cabin, only for Dorner to then tie them up and left in their car, wrecked it, then stole a truck from a male driver.
According to the USA Today:
"A man identified as Rick Heltebrake, who works at a Boy Scout camp in the Big Bear area, told KTLA-TV News that Dorner stole his truck from him at gunpoint. Heltebrake said Dorner came right to the point: 'He said, 'I don't want to hurt you. Just get out of the truck and start walking up the road.'He asked if he could get his dog out of the back. Dorner said OK, but don't take time to get a leash. After exchanging gunfire with officers, Dorner ran into the woods and broke into the cabin. As SWAT closed in, a single shot was heard inside before the cabin was engulfed in flames. As the fire grew, more gunshots were heard - apparently ammunition ignited by the fire, authorities said."
LA Police Chief Charlie Beck called Dorner a "domestic terrorist," being charged with killing Riverside Police Officer Michael Crain, and was a prime suspect in the murders of Monica Quan, and her fiance Keith Lawrence, on January 29. Quan is the daughter of a retired LA police captain whom Dorner blamed for his firing after he alleged abuse by another officers. It was Quan who represented Dorner when he was fired. A search for Dorner, 33, has been underway in the Big Bear area since his burned-out pickup was found there last Thursday.
Hours after police announced they were beginning a manhunt in his name, Dorner allegedly fired at LAPD officers, then ambushed two Riverside officers and killed one.
