Solved case · 2013
The short answer
In February 2013, former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner killed four people, including a police officer's daughter and her fiancé and two law enforcement officers, during a manhunt across Southern California that ended in his death after a standoff at a burning cabin near Big Bear Lake.
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Suggest coverage for Christopher Dorner shootings and manhuntChristopher Jordan Dorner (June 4, 1979 – February 12, 2013) was a former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer and U.S. Navy Reserve lieutenant who, beginning February 3, 2013, carried out a series of shootings targeting LAPD personnel and their associates across Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, California. Dorner had been fired by the LAPD in 2008 after an internal review found he had made false statements in a report alleging that his training officer, Teresa Evans, used excessive force against a man with schizophrenia. Dorner's appeals of his termination were rejected by the Los Angeles County Superior Court and, in 2011, by the California Court of Appeal.
In early February 2013, Dorner posted an approximately 11,000-word manifesto on Facebook listing law enforcement personnel he intended to kill and demanding that the LAPD publicly acknowledge his termination was retaliatory. He had also sent a package to CNN journalist Anderson Cooper containing a DVD outlining his grievances against the department.
On February 3, 2013, Monica Quan, a 28-year-old assistant basketball coach and daughter of Randal Quan (the retired LAPD captain who had represented Dorner at his 2008 dismissal hearing), and her fiancé Keith Lawrence, 27, a USC campus safety officer, were shot dead in a parked car in Irvine. On February 7, Dorner shot two LAPD officers near Corona, grazing one; approximately twenty minutes later he ambushed two Riverside police officers stopped at a traffic light, killing officer Michael Crain and wounding the other. Dorner's burned vehicle was later found near Big Bear Lake, and he is believed to have occupied a cabin in the area for several days.
That same night, LAPD officers on a protection detail in Torrance mistakenly fired on a vehicle driven by Emma Hernandez and her daughter Margie Carranza, who were delivering newspapers and were unrelated to Dorner; both women were wounded but survived. A separate Torrance Police Department shooting minutes later struck an unrelated vehicle driven by David Perdue, who was not hit by gunfire but was injured when a police cruiser collided with his truck. Neither shooting resulted in criminal charges, though the LAPD later disciplined eight officers for use-of-force policy violations, and settlements were paid to the victims.
On February 12, 2013, after carjacking a couple's truck near Big Bear Lake, Dorner exchanged gunfire with San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies, killing Detective Jeremiah MacKay and wounding another deputy, before barricading himself in a nearby cabin. Following a standoff involving tear gas and a demolition vehicle, the cabin caught fire; a single gunshot was heard from inside before the blaze consumed the structure. On February 14, medical examiners confirmed via dental records that human remains found in the cabin were Dorner's, and an autopsy later determined he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Dorner and training officer Teresa Evans respond to a disturbance at a San Pedro hotel; Dorner later files a report alleging Evans used excessive force.
Dorner is fired by the LAPD for making false statements in his report and testimony against Evans.
California Court of Appeal affirms the lower court's ruling upholding Dorner's termination.
A package from Dorner containing a DVD and other items arrives at CNN, addressed to Anderson Cooper.
Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence are shot dead in a parked car in Irvine, California.
Dorner's manifesto is posted online, detailing his grievances and motive.
Irvine police name Dorner as the prime suspect in the murders of Quan and Lawrence.
Dorner shoots two LAPD officers near Corona and ambushes two Riverside officers, killing Officer Michael Crain; LAPD and Torrance police separately shoot two unrelated vehicles, wounding Emma Hernandez and Margie Carranza and injuring David Perdue in a collision.
Dorner's burned vehicle is found near Big Bear Lake; a large-scale search of the area begins.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announces a review of Dorner's disciplinary case.
A $1 million reward is announced for information leading to Dorner's capture.
Riverside County prosecutors file formal murder and attempted murder charges against Dorner.
Dorner carjacks a truck near Big Bear Lake, shoots two San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies (killing Detective Jeremiah MacKay), and barricades himself in a cabin, which catches fire during the standoff.
Human remains and a wallet bearing Dorner's name are found in the burned cabin.
Medical examiners confirm via dental records that the remains are Dorner's.
Autopsy results announced: Dorner died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
A protest against the LAPD is held outside the department's headquarters.
LAPD pays a $4.2 million settlement to Margie Carranza and Emma Hernandez.
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announces eight officers violated use-of-force policy and will face discipline.
City of Torrance reaches a $1.8 million settlement with David Perdue.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Surfer whose vehicle was struck by a police cruiser and fired upon by Torrance police on February 7, 2013 after being mistaken for Dorner's truck; injured in the collision.[3]
Newspaper deliverer shot and wounded by LAPD officers who mistook her vehicle for Dorner's on February 7, 2013; received a settlement.[3]
San Bernardino County Sheriff's detective killed during the February 12, 2013 cabin standoff.[3]
USC campus public safety officer shot dead with his fiancée in Irvine on February 3, 2013.[3]
Daughter of Emma Hernandez, wounded in the hand by LAPD officers in the same February 7, 2013 shooting.[3]
Riverside police officer killed in an ambush shooting on February 7, 2013.[3]
Assistant basketball coach shot dead with her fiancé in Irvine on February 3, 2013.[3]
Former LAPD officer charged by Riverside County prosecutors with murder of a police officer and attempted murder of three other officers; died by self-inflicted gunshot during the February 12, 2013 cabin standoff before trial.[3]
From the record
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Image recordEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenCedar Glen, California · 2020s
On August 18, 2023, 66-year-old shop owner Laura Ann "Lauri" Carleton was fatally shot outside her Cedar Glen, California clothing store after an altercation over a pride flag hanging outside the business. The suspected shooter was killed by police hours later after he opened fire on officers.
North Park Elementary School, San Bernardino, California · 2010s
On April 10, 2017, a man fatally shot his estranged wife, a special education teacher, and an eight-year-old student inside a San Bernardino elementary school classroom before killing himself, in an attack investigators described as a murder–suicide rooted in domestic violence.
Image recordCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenRiverside, California · 2010s
Jeffrey Hall, a Riverside, California plumber and regional leader of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, was fatally shot in his sleep on May 1, 2011, by his 10-year-old son Joseph, who later said he was tired of his father's physical abuse of him and his stepmother.
Credit: English WikipediaEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenDelta, Fulton County, Ohio · 2016
Sierah Joughin, a 20-year-old Ohio college student, was abducted while bicycling home in Fulton County on July 19, 2016, and found dead three days later. James Dean Worley, a neighbor with a 1990 abduction conviction who was not listed in any offender database, was convicted of her murder in 2018 and sentenced to death, prompting Ohio's Sierah's Law, which created a searchable violent-offender registry.
Credit: Via WikipediaEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenMonon High Bridge Trail, Delphi Historic Trails, Delphi, Indiana · 2010s
Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, were murdered on February 13, 2017, while hiking the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi, Indiana. The case went unsolved for over five years until Richard M. Allen was arrested in October 2022, convicted in November 2024, and sentenced to 130 years in prison.
Credit: English WikipediaEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenStar City, West Virginia (disappearance site); body found in Wayne Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania · 2012
Sixteen-year-old Skylar Neese disappeared from her Star City, West Virginia home in July 2012 and was found murdered months later. Two of her high school best friends, Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy, pleaded guilty to killing her in a premeditated stabbing attack.
