Conflicting Reports Over Fate of Christopher Dorner

[brassmonkey]

Last Updated, 11:55 p.m. There were conflicting reports late on Tuesday about whether a body had been recovered from a burned-out cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains where Christopher J. Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer, was thought to have sought refuge during a shootout with police officers on Tuesday.

Citing a law enforcement officer, our colleagues Ian Lovett, Jennifer Medina and Michael Wilson reported on Tuesday that a body had indeed been found in the wreckage of the cabin, which caught fire and burned in the standoff with police on Tuesday. Numerous other news outlets reported the same.

BREAKING: A body believed to be that of fired LAPD officer Dorner recovered in burned-out cabin where police & gunman shot it out earlier.

? CBS News (@CBSNews) 13 Feb 13

But in a news conference later on Tuesday evening, Cmdr. Andrew Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department denied these reports. No body had been recovered from the cabin, he said, because the wreckage was still too hot for investigators to enter.

LAPD: No body has yet been found in there. Any reports that the body has been identified as Christopher #Dorner are not true.

? Jimmy Orr LATimes (@JimmyOrr) 13 Feb 13

The police said on Tuesday that they were almost certain that it was indeed Mr. Dorner in the cabin, and there were no reports that he was able to escape after the fire. Earlier in the day, there were reports that the police heard a single gunshot come from within. At least one officer was killed in the shootout, said Cindy Bachman, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County sheriff. Another officer was shot, but was expected to survive.

Mr. Dorner has been the target of the largest manhunt in Los Angeles Police Department history, officials said. He is suspected of killing at least three people and wounding several others in a rampage that has lasted more than a week.

Several television stations dispatched helicopters and news crews to the scene of the standoff on Tuesday and broadcast live images from above the area of the San Bernardino Mountains where a man thought to be Mr. Dorner was reportedly surrounded by officers after the exchange of gunfire.

At one stage in the live coverage from the CBS News affiliate KCAL-TV, an exchange of fire (and a fleeting obscenity) could be heard clearly on the air as one of the station?s journalists, Carter Evans, reported from the scene.

Shortly after that report, the CBS affiliate broke away from its reporter on the scene for an interview with a man who pretended to be an official with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, but was, in fact, a prank caller who made a reference to ?The Howard Stern Show? before being cut off.

Ronnie the Limo Driver is Howard Stern?s head of security. That is who the prank caller was referring to.

? Alex Weprin (@alexweprin) 12 Feb 13

At a news conference in Los Angeles just after 3 p.m. Pacific time, a spokesman for the police department appealed to the news media not to show any close shots of their officers on the scene, because the suspect could be watching the live television coverage. Later the police requested that journalists refrain from posting updates to Twitter.

Sheriff Dept to media: ?Sheriff has asked all members of press to stop tweeting immediately.? http://t.co/Te7f7D8u #dorner

? Jimmy Orr LATimes (@JimmyOrr) 13 Feb 13

Asked what message the authorities had for the fugitive if he was watching the standoff unfold on live television, the spokesman said: ?If he?s watching this, the message for himself is, ?Enough is enough. It?s time to turn yourself in; it?s time to stop the bloodshed.? ?

LAPD says ?Turn yourself in? to suspect thought to be #Dorner. http://t.co/Ekb9VNkl

? NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) 12 Feb 13
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[blackmonsters]

Dude, only people starving for more drama think homeboy is still alive.

[CyberHustler]

All I know is we ain't never going to see duke alive ever again... now where's bambus, ima roll a joint and offer some charas for his soul