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Subscribe to RSSKaren and Jim Reynolds, the couple who accidentally stumbled upon fugitive Christopher Dorner, describe finding him, being tied-up, what he said to them, and their eventual escape.
The chase, shootout, standoff and inferno that ended the search for ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner began when a married couple startled the suspect in his mountainside hideout.
When Karen and Jim Reynolds arrived to tidy their rental cabin not far from a police command post, they found the alleged cop killer holed up inside.
“He said four or five times that he didn't have a problem with us, he just wanted to clear his name,” said Jim Reynolds at a press conference late Wednesday. “He said I don't have a problem with you so I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I didn't believe him, I thought he was going to kill us,” he added.
Dorner, the target of the biggest manhunt in LAPD history, then tied them up, swiped their purple Nissan Rogue SUV and left.
"We haven't really been told what's happened to it," said Karen Reynolds.
Dorner might have had a chance to flee the Big Bear ski resort area where scores of police had conducted a door-to-door search for him — except Karen Reynolds got free, called 911 and alerted cops that a man who looked like Dorner was on the run, the officials said.
After a long manhunt culminating in gunfire and a cabin set ablaze, the search for accused murderer and ex-cop Christopher Dorner seems to have ended. Police say the charred body found inside the cabin was unrecognizable, but they claim there is no doubt their suspect is dead. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
"What we did was kind of scoot our way — I went up and she went down," said Jim Reynolds. "then she got her gag off and then we both worked on trying to stand up."
Earlier reports, based on statements from law enforcement officials, indicated that it was a pair of housekeepers who had been tied up by the suspect.
"We really very much wanted to clarify things," said Karen Reynolds, "but, it was taking us a whole lot of time to get over the trauma too and, like even by the time all the police were gone last night you guys [reporters] arrived immediately and, wasn't, we never slept for one second, since this happened."
The 911 call set in motion a dramatic and tragic chain of events in which one sheriff’s deputy was killed in a gun battle outside a second cabin where the suspect’s charred body would be found before the day’s end.
“It was like a war zone and our deputies continued to go in to that area,” San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “The rounds kept coming, but our deputies didn’t give up.”
Police have not officially determined that the corpse found in the burned-out county was Dorner, who kept southern California in fear for a week as, authorities say, he carried out a murderous campaign of revenge against the LAPD. They are waiting for forensics.
The San Bernardino Sheriff’s office has said they don’t believe the gunman who barricaded himself inside the cabin escaped before it erupted in flames.
“We believe that this investigation is over at this point and we’ll need to move on from here,” said McMahon.
McMahon said police did not intentionally set the cabin ablaze, but the pyrotechnic tear gas canisters — commonly referred to as “burners,” he said — generate a high level of heat.
It was when police began using the pyrotechnic canisters to flush out the suspect that the fire began.
The charred remains of the cabin where ex-cop Christopher Dorner was believed to have been holed up.
The LAPD, which had been under a series of tactical alerts while Dorner was on the lam has returned to normal operations on Wednesday, although a dozen people on hit list remained under guard, said Lt. Andy Neiman.
"Thanks to the brave men and women of the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, it looks like we have our man," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" early Wednesday.
Investigators had been combing the ski resort area since Thursday, when Dorner’s burned out Nissan truck was found there hours after he allegedly ambushed cops in two cities, killing Officer Michael Crain.
Days earlier, police believe, Dorner executed the daughter of a retired police captain and her fiancé in Irvine to kick off a killing spree that sowed fear across the region and in the ranks of law-enforcement.
After the man believed to be Dorner fled the cabin where he had encountered the couple, wardens from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife spotted the purple Nissan and gave chase.
The suspect lost them and, it appears, ditched the Nissan and carjacked a white pickup.
Rick Heltebrake, 61, told TODAY on Wednesday that he was driving near the Boy Scout camp he operates when a heavily armed man he recognized as Dorner, 33, crawled out of the woods, pointing a rifle at him.
He said the hulking former Navy reservist was wearing camouflage and a ballistics vest and told Heltebrake, “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“He was dressed for action,” Heltebrake said.
Dorner commandeered the pickup, but let the man and his dog go. Shortly after Dorner sped off, Heltebrake heard gunshots.
That may have been the brief exchange of fire between Dorner and another game warden who spotted the pickup and pursued it. The warden’s truck was riddled with bullets, but he was not hurt, officials said.
Dorner then “fled into the forest and barricaded himself inside a cabin,” the San Bernardino Sheriff’s office said. “A short time later there was an exchange of gunfire between law enforcement and the suspect.”
KNBC-TV
Det. Jeremiah MacKay, 35, was killed on Feb. 12, 2013, after exchanging gunfire with a man believed to be a fugitive ex-police officer accused of a revenge-motivated shooting spree.
Two deputies were shot and taken to Loma Linda University Hospital, where officials later confirmed sheriff’s deputy Jeremiah MacKay had died and another had surgery but was expected to survive.
MacKay, 35, joined the department in 1998 and was father to a 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.
“Our department is grieving from this event,” said McMahon.
No further shots were fired from the Angelus Oaks cabin before police began to storm the building, according to a sheriff’s spokesman.
Deputies smashed the cabin’s windows, fired in tear gas, and tore through the structure’s walls using an armored personnel carrier, a source close to the probe told NBCLosAngeles.com. A single gunshot then rang out, according to the source, and flames and smoke began to emerge from the remains of the building.
It was hours before police were able to enter the cabin and find the body. Investigators continued to scour the crime scene Wednesday as other police gathered in Riverside for the funeral of Officer Crain.
San Bernardino, Calif., County Sheriff John McMahon says that the sheriff's department did not intentionally burn down a California mountain cabin where Christopher Dorner is believed to have died. Watch the entire news conference.
Neiman said it was difficult to celebrate the apparent end to the rampage given the loss of four lives, two of them lawmen.
“This has been a very trying time,” he said. “To hear those words ‘officer down’ is the most gut-wrenching experience you can have as a police officer,” Neiman said.
Additional reporting by Andrew Rafferty
This story was originally published on Wed Feb 13, 2013 6:20 PM EST
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I feel bad for the property owner. I doubt the police will pay for a cabin rebuild. Who knows if the owner had fire insurance - ir if the insurance would pay under these circumstances. Somebody's vacation home is GONE. I'd be pissed if that was my cabin
Any individual who has a cabin at Big Bear without fire insurance is an idiot. Will it cover fire as a result of a criminal act? That may be an issue..... but a cabin in a rural area without insurance and I have zero sympathy for the owner.
The ending to this tragedy will be as good as it can be, all things considered, if the mother and daughter are awarded the 1.2 million dollar reward that was offered and maybe they can give a portion of it to the families of the 4 murdered victims to help them a little. I doubt that the police dept. will give it up without a fight!
I dont know about a reward in this case being it was state not federal ........... but that $1.2 million dollars? First the federal tax thieves arrive and its now $720,000. Next come the state theives and its $560,000. Just how much of that "incredible" amount do you think is available once the irrate mother and daughter understand the reality of the welfare state and wealth in the hands of a private citizen?
Thanks to the all authorities got involved, from military/FBI to police/sheriff/fire departments.
Sincere condolences and prayers go out to those fallen policemen, from LA to San Bernardino.
I dispute the article's claim that Southern California was living under a veil of fear. I don't know any average person who was fearful of this guy. I think he made it very clear who his targets were and he never deviated from that. Sad that law enforcement personnel and their families were the targets and victims. For them, the fear had to be real.
I would think as a police officer that the most gut wrenching words that you can hear are "civilian down", not "officer down", since you have signed up to serve and protect. "Officer down" is terrible no doubt but it is an inherent risk of the job. More than anything in this case I am completely shocked by the lack of coverage that the civilian shootings got -- perhaps if the police had murdered the 3 victims that they shot to kill it would have received more coverage?! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS!! How these officers are not being charged with Attempted Murder is completely beyond me?! Civilians can't go about shooting innocent civilians, why should those who "serve and protect" be able to shoot first, ask questions later??? Shouldn't we hold our police to a higher standard, not a lower standard? Instead the police are calling this a "tragic accident" -- WOW!! Six officers accidentally fired on a couple of ladies delivering newspapers? Haha...OK right. After an internal investigation these officers will all be back in uniform out on the streets instead of in a different uniform and in jail. Ask yourself, do you want police officers like this protecting your family and civilians in your community? I'm all for the police shooting bad guys with guns; I'd rather see 100 bad guys gunned down before 1 innocent officer BUT police officers can't go shooting unarmed civilians without drastic consequences. The American public truly are a group of sacrificial lambs in a lion's den with mint sauce sprinkled on them....
Amen
Donkey, you said it bro. However, sadly, the entire history of the world proves that power (which includes the police powers) have always been a corrupt entity manipulated by those in political and/or financial power. And the LAPD is no different. The only thing they serve and protect is the State.
I would imagine they (Mother and Daughter) deserve the million dollar reward then???
Are you kidding me?! They snitched on him after he spared their lives. He did not harm them, and in return, they snitched on him. They deserve to be scorned.
Paul2658
So; snitching means that they should be scorned? Hmmm...I guess then with that line of reasoning, he deserved to be scorned for snithching on the police officer? He spared their lives? They weren't his lives to take in the first place. He killed 2 innocent people who were not even police officers; he killed and attempted to kill police officers that were not even part of the LAPD. You have a perverted sense of right and wrong.
By the way; he left them tied up in a cabin up on a snowy mountain. If the one had not been able to untie herself, who is to say that they would not have died from dehydration, starvation, or hypothermia/
They all deserved it.
I don't understand this guy did everything right in his life. Good grades college grad. militarily. police department. and this happens. I just don't under stand.
My guess is that he was a victim of racial prejudice, especially at the LAPD, and he was treated with little respect. Maybe that happened to him his entire life. No matter how good you are, eventually, with enough bullying by others, you get angry and strike back. It is amazing how far kindness goes to heal others, but wickedness destroys everything. Why then, do so many thrive on spreading violence? The LAPD completely failed Dorner in every way. What happened is a result of their failure. Gack!
That's what makes his case so compelling and disheartening. He did do everything right. Every photo from previous years shows him smiling. He went to college, wasn't a lazy bum. Wasn't a gang banger. Joined the military. Then the police force. Saw a wrongful act take place and whistle blowed. He did the honorable right thing and reported it. But he joined a dirty police force and they ruined his life.
Boo hoo for the poor misunderstood victim of bad things. HE KILLED 4 PEOPLE. You bleeding hearts. He ruined his life not the police force. HE KILLED 4 PEOPLE....What's to understand. I hope the cops meant to torch the house....I would have.
This man was a lunatic and killed innocent people. I feel no remourse for him - only his family and the other families that lost loved ones.
Were they innocent? And what about those two women who were shot while delivering papers? Do you feel some anger towards the large number of pigs who attacked them without any warning at all? Maybe you just haven't been screwed like Dorner apparently was. Maybe that's what you need to have happen to you so you can better understand. Perhaps one day you will be lucky enough to be "accidentally" shot by a cop, be critically wounded, and just barely make it back from the dead. Then let's hear what you have to say, especially when the cop says that you got in his way and he doesn't get disciplined for his actions. LOL!
Please don't disrespect pigs by comparing them to cops; after all, pigs are extremely clean animals with *clean hands*---at least the ones that escape the filthy & cruel slaughter *houses.*
i wonder if lapd will screw those two women out of the reward , like they screwed chris out of his job
You can be sure of one thing. The LAPD will do everything in their power to avoid responsibility for their murderous behavior.
The reward was for "information leading to an arrest and conviction". The women aren't going to get anything.
Cops have a Lic to kill, I'm glad the cops did not shoot any one else up/// I wonder if the Fish and Game wards who, did the first hand shooting, are going to get the Duck metal of stupped award, what the hell are they doing in a man hunt, there are plenty of tiger happy cops carry machine guns, they do not need fish and game, in there playing cops.
Dorner screwed up, when he killed the three people, he should have got help from other cops who got the same rail roading. To bad for all, sorry it had to happen for all who did not deserve to die.
I still wonder if they are going to take the guns away from the kid cops that shot evry one up? or is that okay.
Dorner was NOT a threat to ordinary citizens of California. Nobody in CA needed to fear Dorner except those pigs who betrayed him, and possibly their families. I find it sad and interesting that one of the women who Dorner tied up (did not harm them) also betrayed him. After all, Dorner could have killed them. But he didn't. Why? Because he is/was not a monster. The two women, recognizing that Dorner was good enough to NOT harm them, should have given him time to escape before reporting the incident. One good deed deserves another.
Personally, I will be very surprised if that burned corpse turns out to be Dorner. Everyone knows that the LAPD is perhaps the most corrupt and violent police department in the USA. You cannot believe anything that comes out of their official mouths. Whatever they say about Dorner is tainted by their own BS and tells the story they want you to believe. And any doctors that investigate this issue will also be towing the party line. The system does and will vilify anyone who stands against them or becomes a threat to them. And let's not forget their determination to kill their subject even if it means they might shoot the wrong truck with two innocent women inside.
Seriously, there is no limitation to what these murdering pigs will do. Yes, I call them pigs because they have long earned that title. The very small number of good cops are so outnumbered by the wicked ones that their efforts are completely ineffective. There is little to nothing they can do to turn the tide of the negative effects the various departments have generated by their criminal misconduct. And yes, shooting two women because they wanted to kill Dorner is definitely criminal misconduct. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Yep. Too bad the majority of people still believe the fable that cops are good. The bad ones far outnumber the good ones.
Friend of mine works for insurance company that provides comp insurance for many law enforcement jurisdictions. Friend says that cops, by the trainloads, go out on disability and permanent disability at the drop of a hat to collect $$, then get hired in private consulting or private investigation where the risks are minimal, collect a fat salary and their taxpayer paid disability. Makes you wonder........
And how is it Paul that cops deserve the title of pigs? How have cops *earned* the title of pigs? You know nothing of pigs at all and it's disrespectful for them to be compared to cops! 100 million pigs are slaughtered in the US each year and the suffering and cruelty they endure breaks my heart as well as all factory farmed animals. Don't tell me for one second that cops ever face such cruelty so you can't very well call them *pigs.* Pigs are clean; it's (some) humans who are dirty.
Rebuild the cabin, replace all the shot up trucks and cars, medical bills for all the injuried, extra money for all the overtime, and better set aside $100 mil for all the lawsuits. Hopefully the house cleaners get some.
It seems to me that the owner of the burned out cabin should get repaid out of the reward money. It's that or be repaid in civil court for the LEO purposely burning down her house. Burning suspects at the stake, err I mean house, shouldn't be in the rules of engagement. Now don't get me wrong, I am quite satisfied that the trial&execution is over - but destroying a 1920's cabin wasn't necessary. Aerosol tear gas could be used if you want that. Percussion grenades could be used if you want that. I've seen less damage from tactical missle strikes than the incendary bombs these LEO's used. I guess I'm happy this didn't go down in late August on a Santa Ana wind day where we would have lost 1/2 of the hill in this fire.
Great points.
Thats why god made insurance ......... fire damage you did not plan for. NOT the government responsiblity
Insurance company probably won't pay..probably a clause that says because it was a "mysterious" fire that it was an "act of god" or a war related insidence....
LAPD was heard saying... ''burn that mothaf**ker!''............ sooo they meant to burn it.....
Nice reporting NBC. YouTube video with the cops on the radio giving orders to burn it down.
You Tube v=cNk-bV40XMc
Nice liar, Sheriff.
Hmmmm. They don't know if it Dorner yet they stormed the place, rammed it with an apc then hit it with burners? All, with the intention of making sure this person had no chance whatsoever; but then again, WHAT man? Dorner had accused the LAPD of wrongdoing and he was probably right; that's what they do. He went awry trying to run down and kill those he was angry with but it still doesn't remove the fact that LAPD has dirty laundry - and they killed him (or someone) no questions asked to make sure the issues didn't see light. The tactics used were the same used at Waco where the ATF killed 85 innocent people. Dorner was (is?) going to die but do we let the accused become judge, juries and executioners because they wear a badge? There is a lot wrong with this story.
And where in the hell is the USDOJ?
Those ladies should get the reward!!!
So now what, You know from where you checked with me is how to found him. Don't you love my brain now. And you had a 1 million dollar reward out for him. What do I get, or does the spirit get to judge you now for dishonesty.
it really is nice ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner get to go where everyone will prase him , as i see some on here do, way to go mr dorner , wecome to HELL , burn there for ever now , he got what he wanted , now he can what ever he wants down there and they will believe him, , hope you enjoy your new home, HELL
What a day. Go to work. Become a hostage, face death, escape and earn a $1,000,000.00 reward?
They said early this morning they found his drivers license inside the cabin and more than likely it's him. That cabin burned to the ground. What the hell are LA drivers license made of? LAPD lying again. There's no way any id or wallet can withstand being burned. I also noticed, not one time did they mention finding any of his weapons inside the cabin too.
Smokers mmm would these be the same as the ones used at Waco?? The Do and can Start Fires that turn the tear gas,3.7 grams of CS gas dissolved in 33 grams of the solvent methylene chloride into Hydrogen cyanide. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) poisoning. HCN (North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] designation AC) is 1 of 2 cyanide chemical warfare agents. Cyanide is a rapidly lethal agent when used in enclosed spaces where high concentrations can be achieved. SO they appear to have Gassed Him to Death . From accounts first reported after the gas the gun fire stopped, He might have tried to escape but was push back... One nice neat package for his victims. No fuss or muss
I guess the CROOKS in the LAPD can continue running their CROOKED Operation....... And time will go on as is in this Country.... One thing that I will say is POWER to the GUN Baby!!!! and DAMN the CROOKED Politicians and the CROOKED BANKS!!!!!