Burnt body found after manhunt

A sheriff's spokesperson said charred human remains have been found in the burned-out cabin where fugitive former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner was believed to have been hiding. However, the identification of the remains has not been verified.

San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller says the remains were found late Tuesday where the shooter was believed to be barricaded inside the burning cabin after a shootout that killed one deputy and wounded another.

A former Navy reservist, Dorner has been on the run for a week, vowing to bring "warfare" to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) that fired him five years ago.

Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Andrew Smith had previously stated that no body had been recovered from the burning cabin as it was "still too hot" to enter.

"There has been nobody located and it has not been searched, the fire is too hot. Any reports of a body being found are not true," Smith told reporters (pictured above).

Shootout at cabin

Deputies had been responding to reports of a stolen vehicle in the area which looked similar to Dorner's, police said. The vehicle was found, and a suspect believed to be Dorner ran into the woods and barricaded himself inside a cabin. Shortly thereafter, police exchanged gunfire with the suspect.

San Bernardino Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman confirmed one deputy had been killed.

The suspect "has been described as looking similar to Christopher Dorner, and we have reason to believe it is him," she added.

Police had been searching the snow-covered Big Bear region since Dorner's burned-out pickup truck was found there on Thursday. Authorities were unsure until Tuesday whether he was still in the area, and had sent thousands of officers across three states and Mexico to look for him.

Week-long chase

The 33-year-old Dorner began his run from the law on February 6 after authorities connected the killings of a former police captain's daughter, and her fiancé, to an angry manifesto against the LAPD they said Dorner posted on Facebook. Dorner is also charged with killing police officer Michael Crain, 34, and injuring two other officers in Riverside County.

In his manifesto, Dorner pledged to "bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty."

Some 50 LAPD officers and families had been placed under special protection. Officers guarding one of the targets in Torrance, south of Los Angeles, on Thursday shot and injured two women delivering newspapers because they mistook their pickup truck for Dorner's.

Dorner was fired by the LAPD for filing a false report and accusing his training officer of kicking a mentally ill suspect. In his manifesto, Dorner, who is black, claims he is the victim of racism and was fired by the department for doing the right thing.

hc, dr/ccp  (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)