In Search for Rampaging Former Officer, SoCal Police Declare War on Pickup Trucks

Open fire on innocent people

A former Los Angeles Police Department officer, clearly mentally ill and believing he had been wrongly dismissed from the department after reporting a fellow officer for allegedly abusing a suspect (she was ultimately cleared), posted an apparent manifesto online before beginning a rampage that has left three dead so far.

His target list is huge and focused on law enforcement, resulting in one huge manhunt across Southern California and Las Vegas.

It also, unfortunately, resulted in two cases of police just opening fire on trucks that looked like the vehicle the shooter, Christopher Dorner, had been driving. Via LAist:

The first officer-involved shooting happened at about 5:20 a.m. in the 19500 block of Redbeam Avenue in Torrance, according to the L.A. Times. Two women delivering newspapers in a truck were struck by gunfire by L.A. police detectives from the Hollywood division. One woman was shot in the hand and the other in the back, Jesse Escochea, who captured video of the victims being treated, told the Times. Both victims were transported to a hospital.

The Times describes the crime scene: "After the shooting, the blue pickup was riddled with bullet holes and what appeared to be newspapers lay in the street alongside."

The second incident occurred at Flagler Lane and Beryl Street about 5:45 a.m. and involved Torrance police. No injuries were reported.

They had no connection to the case. We'll see if any disciplinary actions follow. That should be interesting, given a huge chunk of Dorner's diatribe was about how the police abuse the citizens they're supposed to protect. (Also, lots of arguments for gun control – using himself as an actual example)

The burned remains of Dorner's truck have since been found in Big Bear, a mountain community east of the Los Angeles area known for ski resorts.