Fugitive LA ex-cop died from likely self-inflicted gunshot

SAN BERNARDINO, California (Reuters) – A fugitive California ex-cop whose charred remains were found in a burned-out cabin in the mountains above Los Angeles following a gun fight with police died from a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said on Friday.

An autopsy on the body of Christopher Dorner, 33, found that he was killed by a single gunshot to the head, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Captain Kevin Lacy told a news conference.

Authorities have not yet determined who fired that single round.

“The information we have seems to indicate that the wound that took Christopher Dorner’s life was self inflicted,” Lacy said.

Dorner, who also served as an officer in the US Navy reserves, was accused of killing four people since Feb 3, including a sheriff’s deputy shot during the gun battle on Tuesday in the San Bernardino Mountains, northeast of Los Angeles.

A manifesto found posted last week on Dorner’s Facebook page claimed he had been wrongly terminated from the Los Angeles Police Department and would seek revenge by unleashing “unconventional and asymmetrical warfare” on police officers and their families.

During the news conference, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon also stood by his insistence that deputies did not intentionally torch the cabin where Dorner had taken cover.

McMahon has faced questions over his department’s tactics since voices were heard shouting “burn it down!” on an audio recording of the gun battle played on local KCAL-TV and on CNN.

“There is some recordings that I have heard on the news that would suggest that somebody, we have no idea at this point who, made those comments,” he said. “We are looking into those and we will deal with those appropriately. I would suggest to you that those comments were made by somebody away from the tactical team.”