Update From Los Angeles
As I write this, Christopher Dorner remains at large, presumably in Southern California though it’s really anyone’s guess. He’s believed to be responsible for three murders and two attempted murders, and there is no reason to believe he will stop there. For police officers in the area, he is a formidable adversary.
The Nissan Titan pickup truck we had been looking for was found burning yesterday near the mountain town of Big Bear, and a search of the area is ongoing. My hunch, for what it’s worth, is that Dorner burned the truck in an act of misdirection, just as he did with the planting of some of his belongings and the attempted boat theft in San Diego.
The police officer he killed worked for the city of Riverside, far inland from Los Angeles, and he had nothing whatsoever to do with Dorner’s grievance with the LAPD. Speaking of which, if Dorner truly was treated unjustly by the LAPD disciplinary process--a dubious proposition at best--he wouldn’t be the first. But he would be the first to respond to the injustice in this fashion.
Regarding the King Prawn’s earlier post, it might be helpful to understand the context of the incident in which the women delivering newspapers were shot by LAPD officers Thursday morning.The shooting occurred in the very neighborhood where one of the potential targets named in Dorner’s screed lived. Yes, the officers made a horrible mistake, but I’m not certain I wouldn’t have made the same mistake in that situation.
I'll have more to say when circumstances and time allow. In the meantime, please have a good thought for all those involved in the search.
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Comments:
Re: Update From Los Angeles
This is pretty awful, Jack. I really hope they catch the guy soon.
Say, Jack, just between us -- and I'm not saying there's anything interesting here -- but apparently the dude is an MSNBC-watching gun-control nut liberal.
Do you think, as a law enforcement professional, that there's a correlation between those views and hate-fueled violence?
Just askin'.
Sep '10
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Rob Long: This is pretty awful, Jack. I really hope they catch the guy soon.
Say, Jack, just between us -- and I'm not saying there's anything interesting here -- but apparently the dude is an MSNBC-watching gun-control nut liberal.
Do you think, as a law enforcement professional, that there's a correlation between those views and hate-fueled violence?
Just askin'. · 0 minutes ago
They blame Bush. Forever.
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Rob Long: This is pretty awful, Jack. I really hope they catch the guy soon.
Say, Jack, just between us -- and I'm not saying there's anything interesting here -- but apparently the dude is an MSNBC-watching gun-control nut liberal.
Do you think, as a law enforcement professional, that there's a correlation between those views and hate-fueled violence?
Just askin'. · 24 minutes ago
In reading Dorner's screed it's hard to place him on the left-right scale. Yes, he watches MSNBC, but he opines favorably on George H.W. Bush. He likes Piers Morgan but wants Fareed Zakaria (your buddy, Rob) deported. But perhaps the nuttiest opinion he expressed was a favorable view of Michelle Obama's bangs. Go figure.
Jan '13
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Jack Dunphy
In reading Dorner's screed it's hard to place him on the left-right scale. Yes, he watches MSNBC, but he opines favorably on George H.W. Bush. He likes Piers Morgan but wants Fareed Zakaria (your buddy, Rob) deported. But perhaps the nuttiest opinion he expressed was a favorable view of Michelle Obama's bangs. Go figure. · 13 minutes ago
In other words.... Dude's nuts.
Jul '10
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Jimmy Glynn
Jack Dunphy
In reading Dorner's screed it's hard to place him on the left-right scale. Yes, he watches MSNBC, but he opines favorably on George H.W. Bush. He likes Piers Morgan but wants Fareed Zakaria (your buddy, Rob) deported. But perhaps the nuttiest opinion he expressed was a favorable view of Michelle Obama's bangs. Go figure. · 13 minutes ago
In other words.... Dude's nuts. · 9 minutes ago
Exactly. You don't often see psychopaths making an appeal to moderates.
Aug '11
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Context may prove interesting, but it's clear that there are many vehicles like Dorner's. And you can't allow police to shoot up a vehicle unless they are pretty darn sure that the guy they're looking for is in it. So what made them pretty sure?
No doubt we'll find out, but I'm not confident their reasons will make sense.
Dec '12
Re: Update From Los Angeles
So, Jack, you seem to be saying its understandable or even possibly justifiable that the police shot two innocent citizens? Because they made a mistake? Since there is extremely little information I have seen on the why and how, I admit I can't fairly judge their actions at this time, but if, say, a citizen had shot two innocent, unarmed people by mistake, what circumstance would make that act justifiable or understandable, instead of attempted murder?
I deeply respect the police and what they are up against, but they have a duty not to go shooting at someone without clear and indisputable danger to their life, no? Unless these women were armed, brandishing and threatening, these police should be prosecuted. Sorry, nothing justifies shooting unarmed innocents, not by an average citizen, nor the police. You seem to be of the mindset that since police are in a dangerous job, well, if a few innocents get shot along the way in the name of protecting themselves, so be it?
Edited on February 8, 2013 at 7:42pmSep '11
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Jack Dunphy:
Regarding the King Prawn’s earlier post, it might be helpful to understand the context of the incident in which the women delivering newspapers were shot by LAPD officers Thursday morning.The shooting occurred in the very neighborhood where one of the potential targets named in Dorner’s screed lived. Yes, the officers made a horrible mistake, but I’m not certain I wouldn’t have made the same mistake in that situation.
"A second shooting, involving Torrance police officers, occurred about 5:45 a.m. at Flagler Lane and Beryl Street in Torrance. No injuries were reported in that incident."
So how many strikes are the cops allowed before we can criticize them here?
Jun '12
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Jack Dunphy
Rob Long: This is pretty awful, Jack. I really hope they catch the guy soon.
Say, Jack, just between us -- and I'm not saying there's anything interesting here -- but apparently the dude is an MSNBC-watching gun-control nut liberal.
Do you think, as a law enforcement professional, that there's a correlation between those views and hate-fueled violence?
Just askin'. · 24 minutes ago
In reading Dorner's screed it's hard to place him on the left-right scale. Yes, he watches MSNBC, but he opines favorably on George H.W. Bush. He likes Piers Morgan but wants Fareed Zakaria (your buddy, Rob) deported. But perhaps the nuttiest opinion he expressed was a favorable view of Michelle Obama's bangs. Go figure. · 46 minutes ago
What's nutty about liking MO's bangs?
I also like Thunder and Lightning . . .
Jun '12
Re: Update From Los Angeles
What's Nuts is agreeing with Piers Morgan . . .
Jan '11
Re: Update From Los Angeles
You join a group or institution because you believe in what it stands for, and you admire the people who are honestly trying to live up to those ideals.
But then, you get a few years into the real, day-to-day life of that institution, and you see how it's filled with plain old fashioned human beings. Whether they're cops, priests, soldiers ... usually institutions based on service. The ideals are great but the people are human.
Some screw up. Some take the easy way out. Some do it out of ignorance, while others deliberately go 180 degrees, abandoning and rejecting the institution. Then they proclaim how hypocritical the rest of you are. It's bad enough to deal with the scandal of it; it's the attack on the premise of the institution - an attack on the ideals behind the institution.
Meanwhile you have to deal with a sensationalist press, political opportunism, and an increasingly doubting public - all of them declaring the worst possible interpretation.
That's why the only way to survive in an institution is to do it for the ideals themselves, regardless of the reputation or public perception.
Aug '10
Re: Update From Los Angeles
twvolck: Context may prove interesting, but it's clear that there are many vehicles like Dorner's. And you can't allow police to shoot up a vehicle unless they are pretty darn sure that the guy they're looking for is in it. So what made them pretty sure?
No doubt we'll find out, but I'm not confident their reasons will make sense. · 19 minutes ago
That's what I don't understand and the article sited leaves the impression that the police just opened fire because it was the same truck and in the same area as a potential target (as Mr. Dunphy pointed out). That can't be acceptable provocation for a hail of bullets from which two women are lucky to be alive. For the sake of the Officers involved, there had better be more that isn't being said.
Jul '10
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Steven Potter
twvolck: Context may prove interesting, but it's clear that there are many vehicles like Dorner's. And you can't allow police to shoot up a vehicle unless they are pretty darn sure that the guy they're looking for is in it. So what made them pretty sure?
No doubt we'll find out, but I'm not confident their reasons will make sense. · 19 minutes ago
That's what I don't understand and the article sited leaves the impression that the police just opened fire because it was the same truck and in the same area as a potential target (as Mr. Dunphy pointed out). That can't be acceptable provocation for a hail of bullets from which two women are lucky to be alive. For the sake of the Officers involved, there had better be more that isn't being said. · 1 minute ago
This is why it's in everyone's best interests to stop jumping to conclusions and making wild speculations without any details.
Apr '12
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Whiskey Sam
Jimmy Glynn
Jack Dunphy
In reading Dorner's screed it's hard to place him on the left-right scale. Yes, he watches MSNBC, but he opines favorably on George H.W. Bush. He likes Piers Morgan but wants Fareed Zakaria (your buddy, Rob) deported. But perhaps the nuttiest opinion he expressed was a favorable view of Michelle Obama's bangs. Go figure.
In other words.... Dude's nuts.
Exactly. You don't often see psychopaths making an appeal to moderates.
I kinda got the impression he was trolling like crazy-- say anything that you think will piss folks off.
Sep '10
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Whiskey Sam
Steven Potter
twvolck: Context may prove interesting, but it's clear that there are many vehicles like Dorner's. And you can't allow police to shoot up a vehicle unless they are pretty darn sure that the guy they're looking for is in it. So what made them pretty sure?
No doubt we'll find out, but I'm not confident their reasons will make sense. · 19 minutes ago
That's what I don't understand and the article sited leaves the impression that the police just opened fire because it was the same truck and in the same area as a potential target (as Mr. Dunphy pointed out). That can't be acceptable provocation for a hail of bullets from which two women are lucky to be alive. For the sake of the Officers involved, there had better be more that isn't being said. · 1 minute ago
This is why it's in everyone's best interests to stop jumping to conclusions and making wild speculations without any details.
The audience for this lecture should be the guys with the badges and guns. At least when we jump to conclusions, no one gets hurt.
Mar '11
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Emotions in the law enforcement community must be insane right now. A common adage is that the police bond very quickly when there is a policeman-killer on the loose. If the suspect is a former police officer, well, that must be nearly unbearable.
Re: Update From Los Angeles
I read the whole of Dorner's long writing and found myself saying I agree with that, I disagree with that, I agree with that, I disagree with that...
Then I recalled the guy is crazier than an out-house rat, so I recoiled and insisted I disagreed with all of it.
But I couldn't. His writing is a reminder that people are never one thing; never always right nor always wrong.
But he's still a few twists short of a slinky.
And I like the bangs - there I said it.
Apr '11
Re: Update From Los Angeles
First hope is that no more innocents, civilian or police, are injured or killed and that the suspect is apprehended (dead or alive).
As far as officers opening up on the women delivering papers, circumstances are important and we were't there, but I would hope that officers identify the threat before unleashing a hail of bullets. An earlier commenter opined, accurately, that civilians wouldn't get off easily in a similar situation.
Apr '12
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Regarding the misdirection, my first thought upon hearing about the burned-out truck is that he had a second vehicle there, and after he burned the truck he simply drove away and is now far out of the vicinity.
Jul '10
Re: Update From Los Angeles
Remember the cheers in the black community when OJ got off on the murder charges? Something like that is going on today.
http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_22550408/christopher-dorner-gains-sympathizers-online-police-track-down