LOS ANGELES, Calif.–Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck said today the department’s review of Christopher Dorner’s firing could take several months, but he vowed that the case would be looked at fairly and stressed that “we have to remember the victims” of the man accused of killing four people.
“I think it’s really important that we put this in perspective,” Beck said at a news conference at LAPD headquarters. “And even though much of this is about the discussion of Christopher Dorner, we have to remember the victims.”
The charred remains of Dorner, 33, were found inside a burned-out Big Bear cabin after a shootout with law enforcement Feb. 12.
During the exchange of gunfire, San Bernardino County sheriff’s Detective Jeremiah MacKay, 35, was killed, and Deputy Alex Collins was wounded.
Collins was expected to make a full recovery.
Authorities said Dorner’s killing spree began Feb. 3, when the former Navy Reserve lieutenant allegedly gunned down the daughter and future son-in-law of an ex-LAPD captain who represented him at a hearing that resulted in his dismissal from the LAPD.
The bodies of 28-year-old Cal State Fullerton assistant women’s basketball coach Monica Quan and her fiance, 27-year-old USC public safety Officer Keith Lawrence, were found in Lawrence’s car in the parking structure of their Irvine condominium building.
“Monica Quan, daughter of a close friend of mine, LAPD Capt. Randy Quan; Monica went to school with my kids in Walnut; a wonderful young lady,” Beck said. “Keith Lawrence … (his) life (was) just beginning.”
The day after Quan and Lawrence were killed, Dorner allegedly posted a 6,000-word manifesto online, vowing to kill named LAPD officers and their families. About 50 Los Angeles police officers and their families were under police protection during the manhunt.
On Feb. 7, Dorner was allegedly involved in a shootout with Los Angeles police guarding an officer’s home in Corona, leaving one officer with a graze wound to the head, police said. About 20 minutes later, he allegedly fired on a pair of Riverside police officers stopped at a red light, killing Officer Michael Crain, 34, and wounding the other.
Beck said Gerald Chaleff, special assistant for constitutional policing, has been reviewing Dorner’s termination, a process that could take several months.
“If there’s new evidence, we’ll look at it,” Beck said, adding, “You have to be true to the Constitution of the United States in everything you do.”
Beck also said a review would be made of who would receive the $1 million in reward money that was offered during the manhunt for Dorner.
Among those placed under around-the-clock protection by police during the search for Dorner were LAPD Capt. Phil Tingirides and his wife, LAPD Sgt. Emada Tingirides, who both accompanied Beck at the news conference.
“At the time we felt very vulnerable (the officers) were there,” Phil Tingirides said.
The Tingirides family lives in Irvine, not far from where Quan and Lawrence were killed.
Phil Tingirides was the chair of the LAPD Board of Rights that recommended that Dorner be fired. He said he had been on a number of such review boards, but “never, ever, did I think that somebody would go to this extent in their rage …”
Beck noted there were indications that Dorner had conducted surveillance on some of his victims’ homes.
