Mountain manhunt launched for ex-cop accused of killing three

A fired police officer who threatened to bring “warfare” to the Los Angeles Police Department went on a shooting rampage that left a policeman and two others dead and set off an extraordinary manhunt that had three states and Mexico on alert.

The search on Thursday for Christopher Dorner led hair-trigger officers to mistakenly shoot at innocent citizens and forced police to guard their own.

But the focus of police efforts shifted on Thursday afternoon to the snowy mountains around Big Bear Lake, about 130km east of Los Angeles, where police found Dorner’s burned-out pickup truck and tracks leading away from the vehicle.

San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said 125 officers were going door to door and attempting to track the suspect, and that a SWAT team was providing added security to those in the community. Schools were put on lockdown while investigators examined the vehicle and spread out across the area.

“He could be anywhere at this point, and that’s why we’re searching door to door,” McMahon said, adding that the manhunt would continue “as long as we can.” A snow storm was expected in the region with temperatures dipping into the teens overnight.

Said LAPD assistant chief Michel Moore: “This complex and violent investigation has led to this mountain.”

The pickup was to be processed at a crime lab on Thursday evening and examined by investigators from multiple agencies.