Body in Cabin Is Identified as Former Los Angeles Officer

By IAN LOVETT  | Published: February 14, 2013 | The New York Times

Mr. Dorner, 33, a former Los Angeles police officer who the authorities believe killed four people this month, had been the subject of a regionwide manhunt since last week. His body was identified through a dental examination, according to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. No cause of death was given.

The sheriff had already expressed confidence that Mr. Dorner had been killed, after a bloody confrontation on Tuesday that left one San Bernardino sheriff’s deputy dead and another seriously wounded.

“We believe the investigation is over,” John McMahon, the San Bernardino County sheriff, said at a news conference on Wednesday, before the body had been identified.

Mr. Dorner had pledged revenge against law enforcement officers in a manifesto he posted online, which named members of the Los Angeles Police Department as targets. His killing spree began on Feb. 3, when he killed the daughter of a former Los Angeles police captain and her fiancé. He then killed a Riverside police officer on Feb. 7 and wounded another officer.

The manhunt for him intensified that day, when his car was discovered burned in Big Bear Lake, a mountain resort area about 100 miles east of Los Angeles.

But Mr. Dorner did not re-emerge until Tuesday, having apparently hidden in an unoccupied cabin for several days. He stole a vehicle, the authorities said, and eventually crashed it, carjacked another one and then fled into the woods, where he was surrounded in the cabin.