Christopher Dorner

On February 3, 2013 a former LAPD officer, named Christopher Dorner, attacked and killed Monica Quan and her fiancé Keith Lawrence. This incident sparked a nine day manhunt for Dorner ending in suicide.

Christopher Dorner was born June 4, 1979 in New York. He spent his childhood living in Los Angeles, transferring between multiple schools in the area. After graduating from Southern Utah University in 2001 Dorner joined the Navy reserve. On February 1, 2013, 2 days before he committed multiple homicides, he was honorably discharged from the Navy as a Lieutenant.

While Christopher Dorner was in the Navy reserve he joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 2005 and completed his training in 2006. A year later in 2007 Dorner filed a Complaint Report against his training officer Teresa Evans for using excessive force against a mentally ill man whom they arrested. Dorner claimed that Evans kicked the person that they arrested in the face while he was on the ground in handcuffs. His claims could not be substantiated and so were dismissed. Dorner was fired from the LAPD in 2008. He appealed his case multiple times, but each court affirmed the decision of the LAPD. Dorner claimed that racist colleagues had worked to discredit him and end his career. His final appeal was denied in late 2011.

On February 3, 2013 Dorner approached Monica Quan, 28, and her fiancé Keith Lawrence, 27, who were sitting in their parked car in an Irvine Parking garage, and shot them both to death. Monica Quan’s father was Randal Quan who was an LAPD Captain that had represented Dorner during his hearings. Dorner made a Facebook post that warned Randal Quan of the consequences against him and his family because of Dorner’s firing. The Facebook post made Dorner a prime suspect in the murders.

Throughout the manhunt, Dorner had a loyal following on social media. Pro-Dorner Hashtags like #WeStandWithDorner trended worldwide.

On February 12, 2013, after nine days on the run, Dorner took a couple hostage in their cabin in Big Bear Lake, California. He then left the residence in a stolen vehicle. The wife managed to get free and alerted the police. After Dorner left the cabin he ran into a marked police car driven by a game warden and opened fire. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department surrounded Christopher Dorner in a rural area. During the ensuing shootout two officers were wounded and one was killed. Christopher took refuge in a cabin in the mountains where he continued to fire at police. The cabin then suddenly burst into flames, police believe this was caused by smoke bombs they were using to draw Dorner out. Police found his charred remains inside the cabin. Autopsy showed that he had died from a self-inflicted gun shot.

The one million dollar reward for information leading to Dorner’s capture was divided up between four people, the majority going to the couple that Dorner had taken hostage.