Police end 'killer' ex-LA cop search

14 February 2013 Last updated at 01:08 GMT Sheriff McMahon said police did not "intentionally" burn down the cabin in which the gunman thought to be Dorner had barricaded himself

California police have ended the manhunt for an ex-Los Angeles policeman accused of murder, a day after finding a charred body in a cabin where he was thought to be hiding.

San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon said police could not yet identify the remains as those of Christopher Dorner.

But "we believe this investigation is over at this point", he said.

Dorner is accused of killing three last week and engaging in a gun battle with officers as they closed in on Tuesday.

'War zone'

The manhunt ended on Tuesday afternoon, after police received word that a man matching Dorner's description had stolen a vehicle in the area of Big Bear Lake, a ski resort 80 miles (130km) east of Los Angeles.

Officers pursued the suspect, who took refuge in the cabin on a snowy, wooded mountain. The suspect fired on police as they surrounded him, in a scene Sheriff McMahon likened to a war zone.

"The rounds kept coming but the deputies didn't give up," he said at a news conference on Wednesday. "Our deputy sheriffs are true heroes."

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In suicides, says Jack Digliani, a police psychologist with the Loveland, Colorado Police Department, police officers are more likely to leave a note than the general population. Dorner left a manifesto, sent to a media station before he allegedly committed his first crimes.

"In many cases, a manifesto reads like a suicide note," says Digliani. Dorner's lengthy manifesto, he said, had similar hallmarks, including a section thanking those who helped him. The manifesto, says Digliani, also offers insight into how Dorner could have turned from cop to criminal.

"It's [presented as] a righteous cause," he says. "It's two-fold. One is to change the LAPD, the other is to reclaim his name and his reputation. This is the avenger/crusader perspective: 'I don't want to do this, but it's the only way to accomplish the goal.'"

In the fight, Detective Jeremiah MacKay was shot and later died from his wounds. Another officer, Deputy Sheriff Alex Collins, was shot and has undergone surgery in hospital.

During the gun battle police shot tear gas canisters into the building in an effort to drive Dorner out.

Shortly afterwards, police heard a single gunshot as fire began to spread through the cabin.

It is not clear how the blaze started, and Sheriff McMahon said officers had not "intentionally" set fire to the cabin.

But he acknowledged the pyrotechnic tear gas canisters "generate a lot of heat".

"We introduced those into the residence and a fire erupted," he said.

"The pyrotechnic-type canisters are commonly referred to as burners."

Forensic tests will determine if the charred remains found in the razed cabin after Tuesday night's siege are those of Dorner, Sheriff McMahon said.

Revenge

Dorner, a 33-year-old former Navy reservist, is suspected of killing three people in a spree across southern California last week, including a policeman.

Christopher Dorner also had military experience

During the manhunt police guarded about 50 families, many belonging to former Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) colleagues against whom Dorner had vowed revenge for allegedly ruining his career.

He was fired for making false statements, after lodging a complaint against his field training officer, saying she had kicked a suspect during an arrest.

His killing spree began on 3 February when he shot dead the daughter of a former police captain who represented him at his police disciplinary board, and her fiance.

Dorner apparently believed the woman's father, Randal Quan, had not defended him adequately.

Police say he shot and killed a Riverside, California policeman in an ambush on 7 February.

In an online manifesto, Dorner, who was black, suggested that racism was still rife in the LAPD.

It was an unwelcome allegation for a department that overhauled itself after the notorious police beating in 1991 of a black man, Rodney King.

Sunday 3 Feb: Monica Quan (pictured), 28, and Keith Lawrence, 27, were found shot dead in Irvine. Ms Quan, was the daughter of a former Los Angeles police captain who had represented Mr Dorner in disciplinary hearings that resulted in his dismissal in 2008.

Wednesday 6 Feb: At around 22:30, a man matching the description of Mr Dorner (pictured) tried to steal a 47-foot boat from a San Diego marina, but the engine wouldn't start. An 81-year-old man on the boat was tied up but unhurt.

Thursday 7 Feb: At 01:30, two LAPD officers assigned to protect a person named in Mr Dorner's "manifesto" chased a vehicle they believed was Mr Dorner's in Corona. One officer was injured during a shootout, and the gunman fled.

Thursday 7 Feb: Shortly after the shootout in Corona, a gunman believed to be Mr Dorner ambushed two Riverside police officers who had stopped at a red light. One officer was killed and the other critically injured.

Thursday 7 Feb: At 05:15, LAPD officers guarding a target in Torrance identified in Mr Dorner's "manifesto" opened fire on a truck they mistakenly believed to be Mr Dorner's. Two women were wounded. Shortly afterwards, Torrance police shot at a second truck they mistook for Mr Dorner's. Nobody was hurt.

Wednesday 13 Feb: The charred remains of a body, believed to be that of Christopher Dorner, are found in a burnt-out cabin at Big Bear Lake ski resort, after a shoot-out. One officer was killed and another injured. The search moved to the area after a truck belonging to the suspect was found there.

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Chile's Mapuche clash with police

13 February 2013 Last updated at 01:17 GMT The arson attack on the home of the Luchsingers led to heightened tension in the area Police in southern Chile have arrested 20 Mapuche Indians after they clashed with officers in Collipulli.

The Mapuche were demanding the release of Fernando Millacheo.

Mr Millacheo has been on hunger strike for seven weeks while in prison awaiting trial. He has been charged with robbery, arson and attempted murder, which he denies.

There has been a string of arson attacks in the area, which the Mapuche Indians claim as their ancestral land.

Police said the members of the Mapuche indigenous group hurled rocks at them outside a court house in Collipulli.

Mr Millacheo was due to attend a hearing at the court house on Tuesday.

String of attacks

Tensions between the Mapuche and non-indigenous residents of the southern Araucania region have been heightening since an elderly couple died in an arson attack last month.

Bernard Luchsinger and his wife burned to death when hooded arsonists torched their home.

Mr Luchsinger and his family had been involved in a land dispute with the Mapuches and officials blamed the attack on radical Mapuche groups, but none of them has said it was behind the attack.

Many of the about one million Mapuche still live in Araucania, many of them in poverty.

Violent factions have in the past burned forestry farms and private homes to demand the return of ancestral territories.

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'Many die' in Iraq police attack

3 February 2013 Last updated at 10:56 GMT The attackers were wearing police uniforms

At least 16 people have been killed as suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a police HQ in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, medical sources say.

Officials said militants had tried to seize the compound after a bomb exploded at the gates, but were unsuccessful. A police chief was hurt.

No group has said it carried out the attack.

Kirkuk is ethnically mixed, and at the centre of a dispute between Baghdad and the Kurds over oil and land rights.

Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda have been blamed for much of the recent violence in Iraq.

However, there has been a relative calm in recent days.

'Terrifying' explosion

The attack took place at around 09:15 local time (06:15 GMT) in the centre of Kirkuk.

"I saw a vehicle stop at the checkpoint at the main entrance, and the police started checking it," eyewitness Kosrat Hassan Karim told the AFP news agency.

"Suddenly, a loud explosion happened, it was terrifying."

Two militants reportedly dressed in police uniforms and armed with guns, grenades and suicide vests rushed the main gate of the headquarters after the bomb was detonated.

One was killed immediately by police. They tried to dismantle the other's suicide vest but were unsuccessful, so they shot him dead, reports said.

At least 90 people were injured including local police chief Brigadier Sarhad Qader and the press officer of the police directorate, whose conditions are described as critical. Both have been moved to a hospital in Irbil.

Firefighting chief Brig-Gen Naseh Mohammed put the death toll as high as 30.

The attack caused massive damage to nearby buildings.

Traffic in the city centre was stopped, and offices in the area were evacuated.

With its massive oil reserves, Kirkuk is the most bitterly contested of Iraq's disputed territories.

It houses a mixture of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.

The Kurds want to incorporate it into their largely autonomous region, while Arabs and Turkmen oppose any change to its current status, ruled directly from Baghdad.

Correspondents say militants often exploit differences between the Iraqi and Kurdish security forces by launching deadly attacks in the city.

Two weeks ago at least 10 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on the offices of the Kurdish Democratic Party in the city.

Days later, a suicide bomber killed at least 23 people at a Shia mosque in the nearby village of Tuz Khurmato, mainly populated by ethnic Turkmen.

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Kenya army to aid ambushed police

14 November 2012 Last updated at 11:11 GMT Some police officers have been treated in hospital after the attack Kenya's military has been ordered to deploy to the north-western Samburu region following a deadly ambush on police officers by cattle rustlers.

At least 42 police officers were killed - the most deadly attack on police in the East African nation's history.

The army will help track down "the bandits" and recover stolen animals and arms, a presidential statement said.

Hundreds of people have been fleeing the remote area fearing revenge attacks, officials and residents say.

A large police team, which included the regular police, reservists and paramilitary officers, was attacked over the weekend near the town of Baragoi in Samburu County's Suguta valley as they attempted to recover stolen cattle.

The attackers used sophisticated weapons such as anti-personnel bombs and rocket-propelled grenades, one local official said.

Kenya's National Security Council, which was chaired by President Mwai Kibaki, ordered the army's deployment and condemned "the heinous act of killing law enforcement officers".

"Everything will be done to ensure the culprits are apprehended and dealt with in accordance with the law," the statement from the president's office said

The council also said it wanted "peace, reconciliation and disarmament exercises" to be carried out in the affected areas.

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The Turkanas are fleeing from Suguta area with their household goods, goats and cattle,”

End Quote Peter Legerded Baragoi shopkeeper Suguta is a remote valley where people from the Samburu and Turkana communities live in separate villages. They often steal cattle from each other, and clash over grazing rights and access to water points.

On Monday, a religious leader, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that residents in the area feared they may feel the wrath of the security forces, as those behind the killings had disappeared.

"The Turkanas are fleeing from Suguta area with their household goods, goats and cattle," said Peter Legerded, a shopkeeper from Baragoi town, which is outside the valley, told Reuters news agency.

Francis Karimi, a local government official in Baragoi, told AP news agency nearly 1,500 people had fled in buses from Lemerok, a Turkana village in the valley.

Deputy Police Spokesman Charles Owino has warned that in future the police will defend themselves in such circumstances.

"I am sending a very strong warning to the rustlers. It is not going to be business as usual and [they] must be prepared to die because we are not going to allow any police officer to die," Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper quoted him as saying on Wednesday in Nairobi.

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