By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News
The hunt for ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner took a dramatic and dangerous turn yesterday when a report that he stole a car from a home in Big Bear, Calif., sparked a chase, a gunfight and a standoff.
Two officers were injured in the confrontation. Police have not positively confirmed that the shooter is Dorner, who is accused of killing a couple and a cop in a revenge-fueled rampage across California.
The fast-moving events unfolded after sheriff?s deputies received a report that someone fitting Dorner?s description has stolen a car, police said.
A ground and air search ensued, and police located the pickup on Highway 38.
?The suspect fled into the forest and barricaded himself inside a cabin,? said a statement from the San Bernardino Sheriff?s office.
?A short time later there was an exchange of gunfire between law enforcement and the suspect...Two law enforcement officers are being airlifted to a local hospital with unknown injuries.?
LAPD via AP
Former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, who is suspected of killing three people in a revenge rampage.
Hundreds of investigators have spent a week searching for Dorner ? who is accused of killing a retired captain?s daughter and her fianc? on Feb. 3 and a police officer on Feb. 7 while allegedly carrying out a twisted revenge plot.
Dorner?s burned-out truck, a Nissan Titan, was found in Big Bear last week and scores of officers have been combing the mountain, going door-to-door to see if they could find signs of forced entry.
The ex-cop and Navy reservist detailed his plans and hit list in an online manifesto ? a 11,000-word rant in which he makes it clear he would not be taken alive.
?Self Preservation is no longer important to me,? he wrote. ?I do not fear death as I died long ago on 1/2/09.?
That?s the date that Dorner got his walking papers from the LAPD after being fired for making a false statement about an officer he accused of brutalizing a suspect.
Police say Dorner exacted revenge on the lawyer who represented him at the internal review, retired captain Randy Quan, by gunning down his daughter, Monica Quan, 28, and her boyfriend, Keith Lawrence, 27, in their car as they returned home to Irvine, Calif., after the Super Bowl.
Four days later, authorities said, Dorner ambushed police officers who were guarding other potential targets in Riverside and Corona, Calif., killing one of them.
LAPD officials said earlier Tuesday they were sifting through 1,000 clues and, including a video that may show the suspect stocking up on scuba gear before the killing spree.
"With a thousand clues or tips, you have to prioritize," LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said.
Police confirmed they were even looking into the possibility Dorner had fled to Mexico -- the destination he mentioned when he tried to steal a boat in San Diego last Wednesday.
"It is frustrating," Neiman said. "We are hopeful that these investigative leads will lead to a conclusion."
Among the newest leads, a video that was posted on TMZ that appears to show Dorner purchasing scuba equipment at Sport Chalet in Torrance, Calif., on Feb. 1. Neiman said police had not nailed down if it was Dorner and could not say why he would be buying underwater gear.
A criminal complaint filed in federal court last week also revealed that investigators have been tracking an associate of Dorner ? someone with the initials J.Y. ? whose family has property not far from where Dorner's vehicle was abandoned and torched.?
NBC News' Jessica Benson contributed to this report.
LAPD media relations spokesman Andy Neiman briefs the media in the latest in the search for ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, suspected of killing three people.
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