LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 (UPI) — Los Angeles police are offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a rogue ex-cop wanted for three killings.
The reward is a combination of public money and private donations, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said. It comes as law enforcement scour southern California in search of Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, who is accused of killing the daughter of a retired LAPD captain and her fiance. He also is alleged to have shot three police officers, one fatally, in Riverside County.
Beck called Donner a domestic terrorist in explaining the unusually large reward for his capture — the largest in Los Angeles history, USA TODAY said Sunday.
One day after killing the first two people, Dorner published a manifesto online saying he was seeking revenge for his termination in 2008 for allegedly making a false accusation against his training officer.
Since Thursday the search has focused on the Big Bear mountains when his pickup was found in flames on a forest road between Bear Mountain and Snow Summit ski resorts.
Beck said the department is reopening its investigation into Dorner’s termination. Dorner had said training officer Teresa Evans kicked a mentally ill man during an arrest in 2007 in San Pedro. An internal affairs investigation concluded Evans did not kick the man and Dorner was fired, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Beck said Saturday the renewed investigation into Dorner’s termination was “not to appease a murderer,” but to offer complete transparency to the public and to protect an “increasingly positive relationship with the community.”
“I am aware of the ghosts of the LAPD’s past and one of my biggest concerns is that they will be resurrected by Dorner’s allegations of racism within the department,” Beck said. “Therefore, I feel we need to also publicly address Dorner’s allegations regarding his termination of employment.”
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