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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Police to ex-cop on rampage: ‘This has gone far enough’


Credit: Los Angeles Police Dept. newsletter via NBCLosAngeles
Christopher Jordan Dorner is seen in a photo from a 2006 LAPD newsletter. Dorner was on the force until 2008, and he was a reservist in the U.S. Navy.


By Kari Huus and Tracy Connor, NBC News

Updated at 6:25 p.m. ET

An ex-cop suspected of killing three people including a policeman and threatening to kill others — as laid out in a chilling online manifesto — continued to elude a massive manhunt midday Monday despite local, state and federal agents following leads throughout Southern California.

Speaking to a packed press conference, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck chronicled the bloody events up to this point, and called on the alleged gunman, 33-year-old Christopher Dorner, to turn himself in.

"This has gone far enough," said Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck. "No one else needs to die."

Dorner, a 270-pound former Navy reservist who was tossed off the police force in 2008, was acting out of revenge, according his 11,300-word treatise — a cached version of which was obtained by NBCLosAngeles.com — and was targeting not only perceived enemies, but their families as well.

"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I’m terminating yours," Dorner wrote in his rambling manifesto, addressing LAPD officials he blamed for ruining his career.

"Look your wives/husbands and surviving children directly in the face and tell them the truth as to why your children are dead."

Dorner has an arsenal of weapons, including assault rifles, police said. Citizens were told to call 911 if they see his dark gray 2005 Nissan Titan truck, but warned not to approach him, describing him as "extremely dangerous."

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck provides a briefing on the case of Christopher Dorner, the fired LAPD officer wanted in revenge slayings in Irvine, California.

Dorner is a 2001 graduate of Southern Utah University, where he majored in political science and minored in psychology and played football for at least two of those years, the university confirmed.

He was a lieutenant in the Navy Reserves from 2002 until this week, and earned a ribbon for rifle marksmanship and a medal for pistol expertise. He was honorably discharged.

He joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 2005 and was fired for making false statements in 2008.

Police say Dorner began his killing spree on Sunday.

Monica Quan, 28, and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence, 27, were fatally shot while parking their car at their apartment complex after a Super Bowl party. Quan is the daughter of retired LAPD Capt. Randy Quan, who represented Dorner at the internal review that led to his ouster.

On Wednesday, they say Dorner tried and failed to steal a boat in San Diego, Beck said. No one was hurt in that incident.

Hours later, he began targeting cops, they said.

At 1:25 a.m., in Chino, LAPD cops assigned to protect someone named in the manifesto came under fire. One cop suffered a graze wound to his head, "literally inches from killing him," Beck said.

Twenty minutes later, in Riverside, he ambushed two cops stopped at a red light. One officer was killed and the other is in stable condition.

Police in Riverside said that they had notified the family of the slain policeman, but did not reveal his identity because out of concern that it might endanger his family members.

The attacks left police on protection and search details across the region on edge — with tragic results.

At 5:15 a.m. in Torrance, police assigned to watch the home of a potential target got a report of a vehicle like Dorner’s in the area, and then spotted it driving with the lights off.

Police fired at the vehicle and wounded two women who were out delivering newspapers. The Los Angeles Times reported that one was shot in the back and one in the hand and both were taken to local hospitals for treatment. The back of their blue pickup was riddled with bullet holes, the report said.

Related: Women shot by cops were just delivering papers

"Tragically we believe this was a case of mistaken identity by the officers," said Chief Beck.

Later in the day, dozens of cops surrounded a motel in San Diego where a man matching Dorner’s description was reported to be holed up. KNSD said police eventually confirmed the man inside was not the suspect.

"It's extremely intense," Sgt. Rudy Lopez said of the dragnet to capture the suspect before anyone else is killed.

"We're trying to identify where he's been, where he's going. In this case, we are the targets. He's brazen. He's on a hunt to do whatever havoc he can."

Dorner’s manifesto, titled "Last Resort," is a road map of his rage over being tossed off the force. He claims that he was punished for accusing his field training officer of brutalizing a mentally disabled man.

"The attacks will stop when the department states the truth about my innocence, PUBLICLY!!!" he wrote.

Half of it chronicles the wrongs Dorner says he suffered, stretching all the way back to a racial slur used against him in the first grade. He portrays the LAPD as rife with racism, corruption and abuse.

There is a long passage in which he expresses support for an assault-weapons ban, and a plea that his brain be preserved for scientific research on the effects of depression.

The document also contains page after page of praise for friends, political figures, journalists and celebrities and opinions on issues of the day — from women in combat to the boycott of Chick-fil-A.

Mostly, though, he talks about his bloodthirsty plans. He claims his arsenal includes "Bushmaster firearms, Remington precision rifles" and silencers and boasts that his knowledge of police tactics will allow him to elude capture.

"I know I will be villified (sic) by the LAPD and the media," he wrote. "Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name."

At an emotion press conference in Riverside, home to the fallen officer, Police Chief Sergio Diaz said that judging by Dorner’s manifesto, the fugitive had a "depraved mind and heart."

Diaz, like his counterpart in Los Angeles, said the suspect should turn himself in.

"His grievances will not be further aired by further violence."



Critic calls Melissa McCarthy 'tractor-sized,' 'hippo' in review of new film

He should be given 50 lashes with a wet noodle, and then utterly retired. 
By Kurt Schlosser, TODAY
Updated 6:30 p.m. ET: Veteran film critic Rex Reed disliked the new comedy "Identity Thief" so much that he resorted to critiquing the physical appearance of actress Melissa McCarthy, the film's star.

In a review in The New York Observer, the longtime critic calls McCarthy "tractor-sized" and refers to her character as a "humongous creep." The actress stars alongside Jason Bateman in the tale of a businessman who has his identity stolen by a woman on the other side of the country. The film opens in theaters Friday.



Universal Pictures
Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman, background, in a scene from "Identity Thief."

Reed refers to McCarthy as a "hippo" and "a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success."

The Emmy-winning star of the CBS comedy "Mike & Molly," McCarthy had a high-profile turn in the 2011 comedy "Bridesmaids," which earned her an Academy Award nomination. She has openly discussed her weight in the past.

"Sometimes I wish I were just magically a size six and I never had to give [my weight] a single thought," McCarthy, 42, told Good Housekeeping last fall. "But I am weirdly healthy, so I don’t beat myself up about it -- it wouldn’t help, and I don’t want to pass that on to my girls."

Reed, 74, has been a well-known film critic for decades, and his work has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines. His bio on the New York Film Critics Circle website says he is the author of eight books about the movies, and he once co-hosted the syndicated television show "At the Movies."

Stephen Shugerman / Getty Images file

Rex Reed in Palm Springs, Calif., in 2007.

Reed's focus on McCarthy's weight drew a healthy dose of criticism in reader comments on the Observer website.

"I don't know who you think you are but it's a damn shame that at this point in your career you've resorted to trashing the way a woman looks as part of your gimmick here," wrote Ashbey Riley.

"What benefit is there to attacking Melissa McCarthy personally when you're supposed to be talking about the quality of the film?" wrote Grae Drake. "There are so few people you can count on in this over-saturated industry for true film criticism, and you just ruined any remaining shreds of credibility you had."

"I get you hated the movie," said Robin Mitchell. "I have hated lots of movies and didn't need to resort to name-calling and fat shaming. Professionals do not behave this way."

Alonso Duralde, a Los Angeles-based film critic for TheWrap.com, told TODAY.com Thursday that it's OK if Reed doesn't think McCarthy is funny. "He has every right not to be amused" by her, Duralde said. But it's a "cheap shot" to go after her appearance.

"'Identity Thief' is so terrible there are plenty of things to talk about without resorting to Melissa McCarthy's weight," Duralde said.

Duralde also pointed out, for those who may think Reed's criticism is leveled at McCarthy only because she is a woman, that Reed is an equal-opportunity offender. Duralde pointed to the critic's January review of "The Guilt Trip," starring Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand, in which Reed writes: "Mr. Rogen, who looks like Limburger cheese, has carved an inexplicable career out of playing dorks who make the word 'retarded' politically acceptable again."


Was NRA Leader Wayne LaPierre Deferred from Vietnam Due to a Nervous Disorder? 2


This image came across Facebook the other day, and I think it definitely helps explain LaPierre’s nutty actions. Unfortunately, there is no source reference given in this image. But hey, the wonderful thing about the internet is a simple search. So off to Google I go. But what I found completely shocked me…. I found almost nothing.  


le pierre mentally ill 

According to a few comments I found, LaPierre apparently pulled lottery #97 in 1969 as a campus radical at SUNY-Albany, but weaseled out by getting a family doctor to claim he had a nervous disorder. (According to a comment in a Snopes’ thread.)
The most information I could find was an article published online by The Miami Herald on July 25, 2012, called “The door has been slammed on gun debate.” That’s it. A few comment threads from people hearing about this info and looking for some sort of verification. Snopes just recently added this to their site as “Undetermined” probably due to that Snopes’ comment thread mentioned above asking if LePierre did receive this deferment.
Now, think about this…. With gun control and the mass shootings being the prime topic in the news for months now, and LePierre’s insane press release he gave after the Newtown massacre, something like this should be nearly viral by now on the internet. Even if this is not true, it’s juicy gossip. Hundreds of sites and blogs would pick this up and run like the wind with it. The Miami Herald article should have set this tidbit on fire, but it didn’t.
About a week ago is when I saw this graphic and started looking for more information. I searched through Google’s search engine, Duck Duck Go, and Bing. A lotta nada. More came up about Romney and Vietnam than did about LaPierre and ‘Nam. The internet is clean of this rumor, but that in-and-of-itself is more suspicious than if there were hundreds of articles online.
Too clean.
Personally, I think LaPierre isn’t playing with a full deck, and if information like this is true, it would potentially be very damaging to LePierre’s reputation. Not that myself and millions of others hold his reputation in high regard anyway. From LaPierre’s point of view, though, a fact like this is something he definitely would not want the public to know….
So I have to wonder if the NRA has done some house-cleaning on the internet….
It is just too clean.
But it does explain a lot about this man….

UPDATED: Officers "Ambushed," Killed as Search Continues for Ex-Officer Wanted in Irvine Slayings

"View LA Cop Online Manifesto Christopher Jordan Dorner Sends; Last Resort Memo to America on Scribd"

By Jonathan Lloyd
|  Thursday, Feb 7, 2013  |  Updated 6:26 AM PST
Three officers were shot -- two in Riverside, one in Corona -- during the search early Thursday for a former Los Angeles Police Department officer wanted in connection with a double slaying in Irvine.

Police said two Riverside officers responded to Magnolia and Arlington avenues (map) at about 1:30 a.m. after receiving a call for assistance. The response occurred during a search that began with a report of a vehicle matching the description of ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner.

"By all accounts, it appears they were stopped at a red light and just

ambushed by the suspect," said Riverside Lt. Guy Toussaint.

Both Riverside officers were shot and transported to a hospital, where one was pronounced dead. The second officer remained in surgery, police said.

"The suspect did flee the scene, and we're in the process of trying to identify and apprehend the suspect at this time," said Toussaint.

The LAPD confirmed officers are looking for Dorner in connection with the Riverside shooting.

Corona Sgt. Brent Nelson confirmed that the Riverside shooting is connected to another Thursday morning shooting in Corona. LAPD's Newton Division confirmed early Thursday that two of its officers were involved in a confrontation with a man believed to be Dorner.

One of the officer's was shot, suffering what was described as a "minor" graze wound.


View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.
Irvine police revealed Wednesday that a former LAPD officer is suspected of killing an Irvine couple. Christopher Jordan Dorner is apparently targeting LAPD personell who were involved in his termination from the force, and their families. Vikki Vargas reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2013

Officers in protective gear were at the locations in Corona and Riverside.

A third officer-involved shooting was reported at about 5:30 a.m. in Torrance. Officers did not confirm that shooting was connected to the Dorner search.

Also early Thursday, the San Diego Harbor Police Department confirmed a badge with Dorner's picture identification was found at about 2:27 a.m. in the center divider on Harbor Drive, near San Diego International Airport.

"Multi-Page Manifesto" Implicated Ex-LAPD Officer

Dorner is wanted in connection with the double slaying of a newly engaged couple last weekend, Irvine Police Chief David Maggard said Wednesday evening. Maggard said that Dorner implicated himself in a "multi-page manifesto" that was published online but has since been taken down. A source inside LAPD gave NBC4 the manifesto, which is about 11,300 words long and appears to lay out a plan for targeting those involved in his firing.

In the manifesto -- addressed to "America" and titled "Last Resort" -- Dorner writes that the "horrendous murders" are "a necessary evil."

"I know I will be villified (sic) by the LAPD and the media," he writes. "Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name."

Dorner goes on to say, "There will be an element of surprise where you work, live, eat, and sleep."

Monica Quan, 28, and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence, 27, were fatally shot Sunday while sitting in their car on the top level of a parking structure in the 2100 block of Scholarship Drive, according to Irvine police. The recently engaged couple was last seen in Winnetka at a Super Bowl party, and lived in the apartment complex attached to the parking garage. The couple left the party about 7 p.m. and were found slumped over in their car about 9 p.m.

Quan's father was the first Asian-American to become an LAPD captain, and also worked on the Asian Gang Task Force.

In his manifesto, Dorner repeatedly refers to a Randy Quan as being involved in his firing.

Authorities asked for the public's help in finding Dorner, whose last known address is 4931 Sharon Dr. in La Palma. Dorner is described as 6 feet tall, about 270 pounds with black hair and brown eyes.