SAN DIEGO — U.S. border inspectors have been dragged into the search for alleged cop killer, former Los Angeles Police officer Chris Dorner, who has a $1 million dollar prize tag on his head. Customs and Border Protection warns of backups at the California border crossings into Mexico as the search for a Dorner swings south. Heightened vehicle inspections are the culprit, producing delays at San Diego’s San Ysidro border crossing into Tijuana.
Border Patrol said Monday that it has joined efforts to find the 33-year-old ex-military man, thought to be somewhere between Big Bear and the Mexico border.
Baja California state police agents assigned to search for American fugitives have been given Dorner’s photograph. International liaison Alfredo Arenas says the Mexican agents have been warned to consider the suspect armed and extremely dangerous.
Chris Dorner was charged Monday with murdering a police officer and attempting to murder three others in Riverside County.
Authorities are offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings who is the subject of a manhunt in Southern California.
“We will not tolerate this reign of terror that has robbed us of the peace of mind that the residents of southern California deserve,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, announcing what was thought to be the biggest reward in state history.
Charlie Beck, the LAPD chief, told a news conference Dorner was engaging in “domestic terrorism” that could not go unanswered: “This is not about capturing a fleeing fugitive, this is about preventing a future crime. Every day that Dorner is loose … [an] attack on a police officer, or family is likely. We ask the public to help us find Dorner before he kills again.” Beck said that 50 police officers and their families thought to be on a hit list were under protection.
On Saturday, in a separate development, the police chief ordered a review of the disciplinary case that led to Dorner’s dismissal and promised to talk with him if he surrendered. “I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair.”
It is thought that Dorner was terminated for whistleblowing and is now targeting crooked LAPD and their families in a revenge killing spree. Dorner claims, in a lengthy Facebook manifesto presently thought authentic, that he reported police brutality and racism, and was terminated as a result. He asserts widespread institutional racism has lead to the promotions of known participants in the Rodney King beatings, racists, being promoted to high-ranking positions in the LAPD. He alleges that the LAPD retaliated against his whistleblowing by disparaging his good name, and otherwise ruining his police and military career.