Ex-LAPD Cop Barricaded in Cabin Now Engulfed in Flames
CINDY BACHMAN, SAN BERNARDINO SHERIFF`S DEPARTMENT: Subject stole a vehicle from the Big Bear area. He fled on foot not far from this cabin that he`s in now. When he barricaded himself in the cabin, there was gunfire exchanged between the deputies, who were the first responders, and the suspect. The suspect has been described as looking similar to Christopher Dorner, and we have reason to believe that it is him. We don`t know if he`s inside. The cabin is on fire now. That`s all I can tell you right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible) you saw the lights coming in?</s>BACHMAN: Of course. We are planning on a long night. It`s an active crime scene. If this is Christopher Dorner here, he`s now responsible for the murder of four people and attempted murder of three others.</s>GRACE: Well, I`m not there at Big Bear, but I can tell you, it`s him in the cabin. All right? He`s already been sighted in the cabin. The cabin is going up in flames, and he has gunned down I know of two cops. There`s an eyewitness to that. But now there are four bodies. Four bodies, and he is barricaded there in that cabin. Right now, we understand the very latest is the roads have been cleared for the fire department to come and put out the fire. But what are they going to do about Dorner inside, armed to the teeth? We are taking your calls. We are live in Big Bear Lake, California, where this police standoff is going down. We are also live at the Phoenix courthouse with the latest on the trial of Jodi Arias, charged with murder one. Straight out to Matt Zarrell. Matt, how did this whole thing get started with Christopher Jordan Dorner, of all people? He`s a former cop himself.</s>ZARRELL: Yes, Nancy. Well, Dorner made threats as part of his manifesto about getting payback for being terminated from the LAPD. Just days later, on February 3rd is when he killed Quan and Lawrence in an Irvine parking lot. Quan`s father was the one who represented him as part of his disciplinary hearing from the LAPD. Then a couple days later, he fired on two officers in the nearby city of Riverside, California, killing Officer Michael Crane and wounding another officer.</s>GRACE: Wait, wait, wait. One of those -- both of them were just sitting at a red light, Matt Zarrell. These two cops were sitting at a red light, minding their own business. One was a longtime veteran. One was a cop in training. And he opened fire. Go ahead, Matt Zarrell.</s>ZARRELL: Yes. In addition, there were two LAPD officers that were also involved in a shooting with Dorner that morning. One of them was wounded. And now what happened was that just days ago, Dorner broke into a cabin in Big Bear Lake, California, just off of Route 28, and allegedly tied a couple inside and held them hostage until this morning when he tried to leave. When he tried to leave, that is when he came across a roadblock. That is when police tried to stop him. Another shooting ensued. He ended up getting holed up in this cabin that we are seeing now engulfed in flames.</s>GRACE: And isn`t it true that in his manifesto, he names a lot of people he`s going after?</s>ZARRELL: Yes, in addition to -- he said he wants to -- he blamed the racism and corruption in the LAPD for his termination. He vowed to wage unconventional and asymmetrical warfare against the LAPD officers. He called this a last resort to clear his name. In the manifesto, it also included messages to various celebrities like Charlie Sheen and Larry David, CNN contributors Jeffrey Toobin and David Gergen received messages, as well as athletes including Tim Tebow.</s>GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Melinda in Louisiana. Hi, dear. What`s your question?</s>CALLER: Hello?</s>GRACE: Hi, Melinda. What`s your question?</s>CALLER: Hi. Is this Nancy Grace?</s>GRACE: Yes, it is, dear.</s>CALLER: I adore you.</s>GRACE: Thank you, thank you. I am overwhelmed with what`s going down right now from the Jodi Arias murder one trial, and now this guy, of all guys, Melinda in Louisiana, a former police officer, an</s>LAPD. CALLER: I know.</s>GRACE: And here he is gunning down police.</s>CALLER: My brother`s a Houston officer, retired. He has been for like 25 years. I wanted to ask you two questions, if I could, and it`s about Jodi Arias. And it`s important. I`ve been trying to get you for three weeks now. It`s so important. Can I ask you two questions?</s>GRACE: OK. Yes.</s>CALLER: One about Dorner, is his motive, and how can he be respected as an officer and expect even to get his job back when he`s murdering these officers when he ought to have respect for them and go in there like a man, like an officer of law would do and (inaudible), what he should do, respectfully, instead of taking the law into his own hands. And the other question is, does anybody really realize that Jodi Arias stabbed Travis Alexander 29 times because of the day that he broke up with her, June 29, 2007?</s>GRACE: You know, that is a good comparison, Melinda, and I did notice it. We talked about that on my show a couple of weeks ago. There was a brief mention. And it`s a very disturbing coincidence about the 29 stab wounds and the date of the breakup. But as to the motivation of Dorner, he wants -- he says he`s going to wreak havoc until he is publicly exonerated by the NYPD (sic). Joining me right now, John Phillips, KABC. John, thank you for being with us. What`s the latest?</s>JOHN PHILLIPS, KABC: Well, as of right now, the only thing we`ve been able to confirm for sure, Nancy, is that the police believe, the San Bernardino County Sheriff`s Department believes that Dorner is in that cabin that`s going up like a Christmas tree right now. There have been conflicting reports as to whether or not he was able to escape. Some people are saying that. However, nobody in law enforcement saying that they can verify that he has left that. They believe that he was there. He did not leave. It is burnt to a crisp right now. We have heard reports from the owner of the cabin that the cabin does not have a working telephone, it doesn`t have cable, it doesn`t have Internet access. He was in there, we believe, alone, without any contact to the outside world. The police have had the cabin surrounded ever since late afternoon after a firefight with police officers, where one police officer was shot and killed. Another police officer was shot and injured. He went inside that cabin, and the police had it surrounded. They had all the surrounding roads cut off to this house in the San Bernardino mountains. Police had guns drawn there. Now we`re receiving reports that the guns have been put down. Police officers were smoking cigarettes, so we`re all hopeful in Los Angeles that this thing is coming to a very quick end, Nancy.</s>GRACE: With me, John Phillips from KABC. John, how did the whole thing start? And how did it escalate to this?</s>PHILLIPS: Well, it started in Big Bear when we found his car. His car had a broken axle.</s>VILLARAIGOSA: -- bring Christopher Dorner to justice. And obviously I`m not going to comment on what most of you have seen, as I have, because I`m not in a position to do that. That`s for the representatives of the San Bernardino Sheriff`s Department. I also want to say something about the men and women and the families who were targeted. I`ve called a number of them over the last few days to tell them that our hearts and prayers are with them. None of us can imagine what they`ve had to go through, what their children have had to go through because of the threats of Christopher Dorner, and I just want to thank the members of the Los Angeles Police Department, who put their lives on the line every single day. Thank you very much.