Three innocent people shot at by cops (so far) in LAPD manhunt; suspect still at large
This story continues to unfold so quickly that it’s impossible to put up a diary that remains accurate for any length of time. Instead, this is going to be a summary of the story so far and then some links.
A massive manhunt is taking place in Southern California for a former Los Angeles cop and decorated Navy veteran suspected of multiple homicides over the past few days, including the killing of at least one police officer. Christopher Jordan Dorner was fired from the LAPD in 2009 for giving false statements. Yesterday, Dorner posted a very long and rambling manifesto on Facebook in which he says that LAPD has not changed from the days of Rodney King and Mark Fuhrman. Dorner contends he was fired because he reported another cop for using excessive force. Dorner also relates other incidents of white cops using the “N” word in his presence and mistreating minorities. The manifesto also mentions at least 40 cops by name and threatens “unconventional and assymetrical warfare against police.”
While it’s quite clear that the police have legitimate reason to be worried for their own safety, they have already shown themselves to be reckless cowards. Two Asian women delivering newspapers were shot by Torrance police this morning simply because they were in a Nissan truck similar to that Dorner may have been driving. Please check out this photo of that truck and keep in mind that Dorner is a 6’4″ black male. There’s no way the cops could have made any sort of visual identification of the people in this truck and mistaken either of them for Dorner. And wouldn’t a second person in the truck, who might have been a hostage, preclude them from using deadly force? Shouldn’t the fact that the license plate was not Dorner’s have kept them from emptying their guns into the back window of this truck? Or maybe the fact that the truck was the wrong color and model? Somehow, the two women escaped death; one was shot in the back and the other in the hand. A second shooting, also involving Torrance police firing at a vehicle which turned out not to be Dorner’s, miraculously did not cause any injuries.
Perhaps innocent people driving Nissan pickups are a little safer now that Dorner’s burning truck apparently has been found in the forest near Big Bear, where schools have been on lockdown all day.
There is so much more to this story, not the least of which is whatever truth may be found in Dorner’s manifesto. Something has caused this man to snap and turn on the very police force that trained him to kill…and to hate.
This is a live blog on the manhunt; I can’t vouch for the people posting, but many of the links have been quite accurate and helpful.
I’ll try to post new information in comments as it becomes available.
Photo by Steve Lyon released under a Creative Commons Share Alike license.
Three innocent people shot at by cops (so far) in LAPD manhunt; suspect still at large
This story continues to unfold so quickly that it’s impossible to put up a diary that remains accurate for any length of time. Instead, this is going to be a summary of the story so far and then some links.
A massive manhunt is taking place in Southern California for a former Los Angeles cop and decorated Navy veteran suspected of multiple homicides over the past few days, including the killing of at least one police officer. Christopher Jordan Dorner was fired from the LAPD in 2009 for giving false statements. Yesterday, Dorner posted a very long and rambling manifesto on Facebook in which he says that LAPD has not changed from the days of Rodney King and Mark Fuhrman. Dorner contends he was fired because he reported another cop for using excessive force. Dorner also relates other incidents of white cops using the “N” word in his presence and mistreating minorities. The manifesto also mentions at least 40 cops by name and threatens “unconventional and assymetrical warfare against police.”
While it’s quite clear that the police have legitimate reason to be worried for their own safety, they have already shown themselves to be reckless cowards. Two Asian Latino women delivering newspapers were shot by Torrance undercover Los Angeles police this morning simply because they were in a Nissan truck similar to that Dorner may have been driving. Please check out this photo of that truck and keep in mind that Dorner is a 6’4″ black male. There’s no way the cops could have made any sort of visual identification of the people in this truck and mistaken either of them for Dorner. And wouldn’t a second person in the truck, who might have been a hostage, preclude them from using deadly force? Shouldn’t the fact that the license plate was not Dorner’s have kept them from emptying their guns into the back window of this truck? Or maybe the fact that the truck was the wrong color and model? Somehow, the two women escaped death; one was shot in the back twice and is expected to recover and the other was shot in the hand was injured by broken glass. A second shooting, which involved Torrance police firing at a vehicle which also turned out not to be Dorner’s, miraculously did not cause any injuries.
Perhaps innocent people driving Nissan pickups are a little safer now that Dorner’s burning truck apparently has been found in the forest near Big Bear, where schools have been on lockdown all day.
There is so much more to this story, not the least of which is whatever truth may be found in Dorner’s manifesto. Something has caused this man to snap and turn on the very police force that trained him to kill…and to hate.
This is a live blog on the manhunt; I can’t vouch for the people posting, but many of the links have been quite accurate and helpful.
I’ll try to post new information in comments as it becomes available.
