Authorities stand at a burnt-out cabin near Angelus Oaks, Calif., where police engaged in a shootout with fugitive former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner on Tuesday.Reuters
Human remains found in a burnt-out mountain cabin in California have been confirmed as those of alleged cop-killer Christopher Dorner, the local sheriff and coroner's office said Thursday.
The 33-year-old was cornered in the cabin near the ski resort of Big Bear, two hours east of Los Angeles, on Tuesday after a six-day manhunt, but authorities had not confirmed his identity until medical records were checked.
He was believed to have died amid fierce gunfire after SWAT marksmen surrounded the cabin, which was set alight after police threw pyrotechnic tear gas into it. It was not known if he died from gunfire or the blaze.
The ex-Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) cop went on the run last week after allegedly killing a couple and a policeman, and wounding three people. Another officer was killed and one wounded before the cabin blaze.
Dorner had posted a chilling online manifesto in which he threatened to kill policemen and their families, and blamed the LAPD for treating him unfairly in his sacking in 2008.
The manhunt came to a climax Tuesday in a cabin near the snow-covered ski resort, after Dorner was spotted in a stolen vehicle, and fled on foot after crashing one vehicle and carjacking another.
Human remains were found overnight in the charred debris of the cabin. LA police lifted a state of alert but maintained protection for officers and families Dorner threatened in his manifesto.