The couple tied up by Christopher Dorner, the man who found his burning truck and a tow-truck driver who spotted the rogue ex-cop will split a $1 million reward offered during February’s epic manhunt, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Dorner was a former LAPD officer and a U.S. Navy reservist who targeted police officers and their families. He killed four people, including two law enforcement officers, and wounded three others in a nearly one-week manhunt.

From the 12 claims filed, a panel of three judges selected three claimants to receive the reward.

On Tuesday, authorities announced that 80 percent of the reward is going to James and Karen Reynolds who Dorner tied up at their Big Bear cabin before escaping in their SUV. Karen Reynolds managed to break loose of her bindings and call 911.

Dorner later crashed the SUV and carjacked a white pickup.

Daniel McGowan, who found the truck in the Big Bear area, will receive 15 percent.

The remaining 5 percent will go to tow-truck driver R.L. McDaniel, who spotted the rogue ex-cop Dorner at a Corona gas station early in the manhunt.

The first installment of the reward will be paid on Friday, May 10, the LAPD said.

Dorner shot himself in the head Feb. 12 during a shootout with authorities who had surrounded the cabin where he took cover in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Bullet holes in front doors, trees and a kitchen serve as reminders of the chaos brought to their Torrance, Calif. neighborhood during a frantic manhunt for an ex-police officer bent on revenge killings.

Nine bullets pierced a tree on Redbeam Avenue where two newspaper delivery women were shot by police officers who had mistaken them for fugitive Christopher Dorner.

Margie Carranza and her 71-year-old mother, Emma Hernandez, were delivering the Los Angeles Times before dawn near the home of a police officer named in Dorner’s angry manifesto.

The shooting occurred Feb. 7 after officers were notified of a truck that matched the description of Dorner’s gray 2005 Nissan Titan. Hernandez suffered two bullet wounds to the back. She was released from the intensive care unit and was recovering. Carranza, 47, had minor injuries related to shattered glass and a wounded finger.

The women’s lawyer counted 102 bullet holes in their blue Toyota Tacoma and several more in Hernandez’s hoodie.

Weeks later, memories of the shooting were still evident, with five bullet holes piercing a home’s front door and more in walls and garages that lined the street.

"My guess is that they threw policy out the window and got in trouble," said resident Steve McDonald, whose solar panels sustained bullet damage. "They're lucky they didn't hit each other because there were bullets flying every which way."

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NBC4 has learned that eight LAPD officers were involved in the shootout. All of them have been assigned to non-field assignments until "the [police] chief decides otherwise."

So far, their names have not been released and there has been no comment from the Los Angeles District Attorney about pressing charges.

An attorney for the women, Glen Jonas said he’ll let the investigation run its course.

"If the city wants to do it the easy way and get it resolved; if they want to do it for hard way, then we’ll file a lawsuit," he said.

Police said they cannot comment on on-going internal investigations.

But some residents, despite being so close to the gunfire, said they understand the officers’ actions.

"I think they have to be supported through this," said Joanne Arnn. "Yes, it's unfortunate, thank goodness no one here was fatally injured, but it's not a very safe world."

Arnn said that Torrance Police Department contacted each household on the block to learn if anyone was injuries and offered to pay for any damage to their homes.

About two blocks away and thirty minutes after the women were shot, a Redondo Beach man was fired upon by officers who also mistook him for the wanted Dorner.

Related links:

• Officials hope to ID charred remains as those of ex-LAPD suspect Dorner
• Dorner died of self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, authorities say
• Police search mountains for LAPD murder suspect Christopher Dorner, release new image

Ex-LAPD officer-turned-fugitive Christopher Dorner, who went on a deadly shooting rampage and then died after a shootout and fire last week, first tried to charm fishermen in San Diego’s Driscoll Wharf into giving him a ride to Mexico, sources said.

Dorner, 33, led authorities on a massive manhunt after allegedly killing an Irvine couple and a Riverside police officer in a crime spree across Southern California that began on Feb. 3.

Dorner's deadly crimes were allegedly part of a revenge-filled plot he outlined in an online manifesto targeting law enforcement officers and their families.

Authorities searched for Dorner all over Southern California -- from Irvine to National City -- and led extensive checkpoints at the San Ysidro border, believing Dorner was trying to flee into Mexico.

Fishermen at Driscoll Wharf told NBC 7 exclusively that Dorner was on the pier near Nimitz and Harbor Island Drive on Feb. 5 trying to charm his way into a boat ride to Mexico.

“He kept saying he wanted to go fishing off Mexico. I said ‘Mexico? That’s kinda weird. You could go fishing on the bay,’” said Jeremy Smith, a local commercial fisherman.

Smith spoke exclusively with NBC 7 on Saturday night.

Smith and others at the dock said Dorner was willing to pay $200 to $400 for someone to take him out to sea. He told the fishermen he was going to be deployed to Afghanistan and just wanted to go fishing in Mexico first.

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But at this pier, far away from popular fishing charters, most people were making repairs on their boats, not ready to go to sea.

Smith offered to show him around a luxury yacht that was for sale docked at the pier. But he asked him to remove the military style boots Dorner was wearing to keep the white carpeting clean. Dorner declined.

"Maybe he had a gun," Smith guessed. "Usually people want to see inside."

Dorner's request for a ride surprised some local fishermen, including Roy Sherman.

“I’ve been down here for 40 years and he’s the first guy that came down here and asked for a ride,” said Sherman.

San Diego Police Lt. Andra Brown said she was not aware of this particular Dorner sighting in San Diego.

“We’re not going to discuss details of an ongoing investigation,” Brown said, and referred questions about the incident to the Irvine Police Department.

Several other law enforcement sources -- not in the San Diego Police Department -- confirmed the man described by local fishermen was likely Dorner.

Dorner did spend time in San Diego between Feb. 4 and Feb. 6.

Gift of fish tacos
A surveillance video taken behind an auto parts store in National City on Feb. 4 shows Dorner tossing bullets, a uniform and other items that linked him to the Irvine double-homicide into a dumpster.

After spending an hour at the pier the next day, the fishermen said Dorner left, but returned with fish tacos for Smith, hoping that would convince the fisherman to help him find a charter.

The witnesses reported Dorner was very friendly, always with a smile on his face, calling himself "Mike."

The man who called himself "Mike" told Smith a story about a friend who was having problems with the police and said his friend had been fired.

"I think he was talking about himself, now that I think about it," added Smith.

Dorner eventually left peacefully without his ride to Mexico, the group of fisherman said.

Driscoll Wharf is adjacent to Naval Base San Diego on North Harbor drive.

Smith said Dorner returned to the wharf on Feb. 6 but still couldn't find anyone to take him to Mexican waters.

That same day, a man fitting Dorner’s description tried to steal a boat from a San Diego marina, according to officials. An 81-year-old man on the boat was tied up but uninjured. The would-be boat thief was unable to steal the boat and fled.

Later that night, police issued Dorner's description, and the fishermen said they notified authorities of their encounter.

On Sunday, fishermen on Pier 6 at Driscoll Wharf are amazed the kind man who brought them fish tacos on Feb. 5 was the dangerous fugitive accused of fatally shooting four people, including a police officer and a sheriff’s deputy.

The 10-day manhunt for Dorner ended on Feb. 12.

After barricading himself in a Big Bear-area cabin, he died of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said. That cabin went up in flames during a shootout between Dorner and officers, and the fugitive's charred remains were later found inside.

Related:

Dorner's luck ran out, but these five accused killers continue to elude cops

Dorner died of self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, authorities say

Police chief named in manifesto recalls 'the Chris Dorner that I knew'

The last few weeks for La Palma Police Chief Eric Nunez have been tense. He and his family endured 24-hour protection after being mentioned in Christopher Dorner's manifesto.

Though Dorner praised Nunez, the possibility that the fugitive ex-police officer would reach out to him amid the massive manhunt was ominous.

"My wife was obviously very worried,” Nunez said. “I tried to convince her that it is very unlikely that we would have any contact, but we did make a plan."

In an 11,400-word document published online, Dorner wrote this about Nunez: "You're just an awesome person and my first exposure to what law enforcement was really about."

Nunez said he was “reeling” trying to make sense of Dorner’s alleged rampage that left four dead, including two law enforcement officials and a newly engaged couple.

Nunez said Dorner was part of the department's police explorer volunteer program while at Kennedy High School and that he would visit once a year.

"The Chris Dorner that I knew back when he was an explorer here and going through college then going through the Navy wouldn't have done the horrendous acts that he did, would not have been the cold-blooded calculated murderer," Nunez said.

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Nunez explained that he had not heard from Dorner for two years until a package was dropped off at his office on Jan. 23. It contained a note explaining that Dorner did not lie during the investigation that led to his dismissal from the LAPD and a video of one of the interrogations.

"I barely had some inclination that he had been terminated or that he was no longer with LAPD but I had no context of the nature of that investigation was or anything," Nunez said.

"I really didn't even know what this was actually about until I read the manifesto," he added.

'Unfathomable'
He said he first read the manifesto when members of the Irvine Police Department arrived to his offices asking him about Dorner. Detectives were investigating the deaths of newly engaged couple Keith Lawrence and Monica Quan, the daughter of a former LAPD captain targeted in Dorner’s manifesto.

"It’s unfathomable. Even the first call that I got telling me that I was named in this manifesto and they wanted to talk to me about it and they told me who their suspect is, the Irvine Police Department, and my head is reeling because I am thinking how is that even possible?" Nunez said.

He turned over the package and its contents to the investigators.

Days after Nunez received the package, Dorner allegedly went on a shooting spree that killed Riverside police Officer Michael Crain. Nunez went to Crain’s funeral and, like the entire Southland law enforcement community, is now mourning the loss of two brothers.

San Bernandino Sheriff Detective Jeremiah MacKay was killed this week in a final gunbattle with Dorner before the 33-year old ex-LAPD officer died in a burning cabin in which he barricaded himself.

Two other members of law enforcement were wounded.

But what sets Nunez apart is his connection to Dorner.

"Whatever relief you might feel was [mixed] with deep sadness that came at the cost of another officer’s life," he said. "Everybody that has been touched by this is trying to figure out what went wrong."

Related: 

Body of ex-LAPD gunman identified in charred cabin

Full coverage of this story from NBCLosAngeles.com

Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer.

The charred human remains located in the burned out cabin in Seven Oaks, Calif., have been positively identified to be those of Christopher Dorner, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Officials said the positive identification was made through a dental examination during an autopsy.

The announcement puts a cap on one of the largest and deadliest manhunts in California history.

The LAPD, which had been under a series of tactical alerts while Dorner was on the lam, cautiously returned to normal operations on Wednesday, a day after the suspect believed to be Dorner was cornered in a cabin near the Big Bear resort area.

Investigators had been combing the ski resort area since last Thursday, when Dorner’s burnt Nissan truck was found there hours after he allegedly ambushed cops in two cities, killing Officer Michael Crain.

Days earlier, police believe, Dorner killed 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.

All three slayings were suspected to be connected to Dorner and the plans he allegedly laid out in a manifesto targeting law enforcement officers and their families. He was incensed at the LAPD after being fired for filing a false complaint.

In a shootout on Tuesday, Dorner killed a fourth person, Sheriff's Deputy Jeremiah MacKay, and wounded another officer as he tried to escape the manhunt.

This undated photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows suspect Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles officer.

Many families who were under the LAPD’s protective custody are beginning to return to their normal lives after spending the last week living with officers outside their doors 24/7.

On Thursday – just one day after a sighting of fugitive Christopher Dorner led to a deadly shootout and fire at a Big Bear-area cabin – NBC San Diego spoke exclusively with one woman whose mother was a target in Dorner’s online manifesto, which outlined a homicidal revenge plot involving law enforcement and their families.

For a week straight, black and white patrol cars sat outside this family’s home. The resident inside was an LAPD officer who was named in Dorner’s hit list.

“It was really scary; kind of surreal. [It] felt like a movie,” said the daughter, who wished to remain anonymous.

The woman said her mother tried to remain calm despite the frightening ordeal.

“She’s been really strong, just more worried about her children than anything,” she said. “There were four different tiers of officers who needed protection and my mom was in the second tier.”

Since Feb. 6, the LAPD has kept close watch on 40 people who were named in Dorner’s manifesto, along with their families.

Timeline: Revenge-Plot Slayings | Map: LAPD Manhunt

This has been an overwhelming undertaking for the department when you consider three officers to each home, 24 hours a day.

Still, the protection from law enforcement was unwavering.

“It's scary but I mean at the same time, her house was the safest place to be. She had so much protection,” the daughter told NBC San Diego.

Now that officials have ended the manhunt for Dorner, relief has washed over many targeted families.

But, now, other feelings are bubbling up as well.

“It's all setting in that people are dead and, I don't know, I think [my mother] having a hard time with it. I think there's a certain amount of shock,” the daughter added.

Some LAPD families who were considered most at-risk in Dorner’s manifesto remained under police protection Thursday night, but many are now on their own since the threat seems to have passed.

With a chase, a raging gun battle, and a blazing cabin fire, the hunt for suspect Christopher Dorner that has kept Southern California in terror for the past week appears to be over.

Charred human remains were discovered in the Big Bear cabin where police sources say the burly ex-LAPD officer barricaded himself in what might have been the deadly end to the biggest manhunt Los Angeles has ever seen.

The LAPD, which has been under a series of tactical alerts as Dorner allegedly hunted policemen on a hit list, has returned to normal operations, Lt. Andy Neiman said at a Wednesday morning briefing.

But as the sun rose over Big Bear, with one deputy dead and another recovering from surgery after being shot in a gun battle at the cabin, much remained unclear.

Police have not officially said whether the body found in the burned-out cabin was Dorner. The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement on Tuesday that identification would be attempted “through forensic means.”

"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.

Yet, the targets named in the rambling 11,000-word manifesto police say was posted online by Dorner will remain under special protection until a positive identification has been made, officials said.

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 police officers in two cities, killing one of them.

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 terror across the region and in the ranks of law-enforcement.

The first real evidence that Dorner was still in the mountains came Tuesday about 12:22 p.m. local time when a man fitting his description had stolen a car in the area.

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 his car, but let the man and his dog to go, according to Heltebrake. Shortly after Dorner sped off, Heltebrake heard gunshots.

Wardens from the California Department of Fish and Game had spotted Dorner and one of them exchanged gunfire with the suspects, a spokesman said. The warden was not hurt, though his truck was riddled with bullets.

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.”

Two deputies were shot and taken to Loma Linda University Hospital, where officials later confirmed one had died and another had surgery but was expected to survive. Neither has been identified.

Rage-filled and an expert marksman, Dorner fumed at firing from LAPD

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.

“There is a lot of apprehension today in any kind of celebration because this is not a celebration,” Neiman said of the apparent end to the rampage. “This has been a very trying time.”

He said the LAPD was mourning the death of two comrades – the Riverside police officer shot dead Thursday and the deputy killed in the standoff.

“To hear those words ‘officer down’ is the most gut-wrenching experience you can have as a police officer,” Neiman said.

NBC News’ Tracy Connor contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Wed Feb 13, 2013 9:03 AM EST