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Christopher
Dorner: how did the fire start?
In
this image taken from video provided by KABC-TV, the cabin where
ex-police officer Christopher Dorner is believed to be barricaded
inside is in flames. Photograph: KABC-TV/AP
Fears
that tear gas rounds may have sparked blaze that killed ex-policeman
after recording surfaces purporting to be of police scanner
conversation during raid
13
February, 2013
A
six-day hunt for a former policeman suspected of a killing spree in
California ended on Wednesday when a cabin in the mountains above LA
went up in flames.
A
body suspected to be that of Christopher Dorner was found in the
ruins of the building. Dorner is suspected to have killed four people
in a vendetta against LA police officers and their families; the
fourth was an officer from San Bernardino County sheriff's department
killed in a shootout at the cabin on Tuesday night.
Dorner
had threatened to bring "warfare" to the LAPD, having
claimed he had been the subject of racism when he was sacked from his
job as a policeman there. Rory Carroll has the full story.
It
is not yet clear how the fire at the cabin was started, but some
evidence seems to suggest it may have been as a consequence of the
tear gas fired by police.
A
recording purporting to be of the conversation on police scanners as
officers surrounded the cabin where Dorner was hiding seems to show
police discussing "going forward with the plan, with, er, with
the burn" or "burner".
The
term "burner" had led to speculation that the fire had been
started deliberately, but burner is thought to be police slang for
tear gas, and may refer to "BurnSafe" containers for CS gas
canisters, made by the Covina-Thomas Company in Covina, California.
On its website the company lists among its recent customers the LAPD,
although not the San Bernardo County sheriff's office, which led the
raid.
Following
the fire that killed 76 Branch Davidian cult members during the Waco
siege in Texas there was a long period of controversy over whether
the blaze had been started by military tear gas cartridges.
The
Guardian cannot confirm that the audio track is a genuine recording
of the police scanner.
At
around the 1min mark in the recording, a male voice says:
"All
right, Steve, we're gonna go, er, we're gonna go forward with the
plan, with, er, with the burn [or burner]. We want it, er, like we
talked about."
He
then adds shortly afterwards:
"Seven
burners deployed and we have a fire."
A
female voice responds:
"Copy.
Seven burners deployed and we have a fire."
At
around 2min 20sec, a male voice says:
"Guys,
be ready on the No 4 side. We have fire in the front. He might come
out the back."
At
around 2min 50sec, a male voice requests a fire engine.
"There
is then a report of a shot fired from within the residence, followed
by a sharp noise of some kind."
This
video,
which purports to be a recording of KCAL TV coverage of the raid on
the cabin, seems to include the sound of police shouting: "We're
going to burn him out," and "Burn this motherfucker!"
Journalist
Max
Blumenthal
claims to have been listening to the police scanners through an
iPhone app at the time and has put together a
timeline of events.
The key tweets match the YouTube video purporting to be the police
scanner:
Hard
to decipher on San Bernadino Sheriff scanner now: "We're gonna
go ahead w/the plan w/the burner... Like we talked about."
47
RETWEETS 4
FAVORITES
BREAKING:
PD scanners right now: "The burner's deployed and we have a
fire." Sheriffs have set #Dorner
cabin on fire or so it seems.
144
RETWEETS 13
FAVORITES
SB
County System 6,7,8 scanner: "We have fire in the front and it
may come out the back" #Dorner
15
RETWEETS
According
to the Associated Press, writing from Big Bear Lake, California,
where the incident took place, the police attacked the cabin like so:
A
SWAT team surrounded the cabin and used an armoured vehicle to break
out the cabin windows, said a law enforcement official who requested
anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. The officers then
pumped a gas into the cabin and blasted a message over a loudspeaker:
"Surrender or come out."
The
armoured vehicle then tore down each of the cabin's four walls.
A
single shot was heard inside before the cabin was engulfed in flames,
the law enforcement official told the Associated Press.
Just
before 5pm, authorities smashed the cabin's windows, pumped in tear
gas and called for the suspect to surrender. They got no response.
Then, using a demolition vehicle, they tore down the cabin's walls
one by one. When they reached the last wall, they heard a gunshot.
Then the cabin burst into flames.
A
spokesman for the San Bernardino County sheriff's office refused to
answer any media questions about the fire or Dorner's death until the
press conference the police force is holding on Wednesday at 4pm LA
time (midnight GMT).
Note:
This
article was redrafted at 5.30pm GMT on 13 February 2013 due to new
information about the possible meaning of the word "burner"
coming to light.
See also THIS
See also THIS
Dorner
Cabin Incident Police Scanner Audio Condensed, Did The Police Execute
Him?
'Burn it Down' – Dorner's hideout deliberately torched by LAPD as dramatic manhunt ends
A
highway patrol officer checks with colleagues at a roadblockon on
Highway 38 near Angeles Oaks during a standoff with fugitive ex-cop
Christopher Dorner, near San Bernardino, California on February 12,
2013 (AFP Photo / Joe Klamar)
RT,
13
February, 2013
US
Police were heard on Los Angeles TV and over LAPD audio yelling to
burn down fugitive ex-cop Chris Dorner’s cabin, revealing a
deliberate, considered plan to torch the building in which Dorner was
believed to be hiding.
Local
news channel Kcal9 has played a
recording in
which police were heard to yell “burn
this mother*****r down,”and
another shouting, “f*****g
burn this mother*****r,” as
Dorner was barricaded inside his hideout.
The
news followed an LAPD audio recording in which a police officer is
heard to say, “Alright,
we're gonna go ahead with the plan with the burners,” and
continued, saying, “like
we talked about,” as
his colleague confirmed he is in agreement.
Dorner
had barricaded himself in the cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains
near Big Bear, Los Angeles. The drawn-out and dramatic manhunt
culminated with a siege and shootout.
His
hideout cabin was apparently set alight after attempts to force him
out using smoke bombs and teargas failed. The message “surrender
or come out,” had
been blasted into the building by law enforcement officials, and the
media was ordered to shut off their live feeds during the stand-off.
Hundreds
watched the building go up in flames. It was unknown what had caused
the fire. Nobody had been seen attempting to escape, and a charred
body was later recovered from the wreckage, leading to the widespread
belief that Dorner had been burned alive. However, no one has been
formally identified – it may take days for the authorities to
officially confirm that it was Dorner.
Dorner
had been on the run since Tuesday, suspected of murdering three
people in a dramatic shootout. He had been formally charged with the
murder of a police officer. A car chase ensued, and he was
momentarily the most wanted man in America. Police offered a $1
million dollar reward in the case after his burned-out truck was
found on February 7 on a forested road near Big Bear Lake.
Dormer,
a former police officer, had been untraceable since he first escaped,
and was rumored to be exacting revenge for being fired from his job.
He was first named a suspect in the February 3 shooting of the
daughter of his police union representative and her fiancé on
February. A manifesto attributed to him also appeared online.
The
six-day manhunt – which included road blocks, bullets and
helicopters covering the mountain town – came to a close on Tuesday
night.
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