A state-wide manhunt for Christopher Dorner that began with the murder of a Los Angeles police officer came to a spectacular end yesterday, as police officers closed in on a cabin in Big Bear.
Dorner, believed to be barricaded inside, exchanged a huge amount of gunfire with the officers surrounding the house. They responded with blistering firepower — and launched tear gas to try and force him out.
In this video from CBS News, we can see what it was like on the ground. Officers stand behind trucks and fire into the cabin, as others launch tear gas. In the first seconds, you can see one officer on the left providing covering fire as the officer on the right throws what appears to be a tear gas grenade.
The cabin eventually caught on fire. Some speculate that tear gas canisters — apparently called "burners" in police slang — were deployed specifically to start the fire. The Guardian reports that journalist Max Blumenthal was apparently live-tweeting the police frequency, hearing at one point, "We're gonna go ahead with the plan with the burner... Like we talked about."
You can watch an unconfirmed video of police scanner transmissions on Youtube. Talk of "burners" comes in at about 1:00.
The LAPD later found charred remains inside and believe it is Dorner.
"We believe that the person that barricaded himself inside the cabin engaged in gunfire with our deputies and other law enforcement officers is still inside there," Cindy Bachmann, a spokesperson for the department, told ABC News. "Even though the building burned."
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