Editor's Note: Friday clarification in italics below.
As a dragnet gripped Southern California law enforcement hunting an ex-LAPD officer wanted for three murders, KCAL has reported that a Long Beach woman was once married to suspect Christopher Jordan Dorner.
KCAL identified her as April Carter - as did the Orange County Register -and said the pair were married for one month in 2007. The Register reported they married in Las Vegas, where a Dorner-owned home was under police watch.
And Carter's next-door neighbor said Thursday night that Dorner was seen at the house Saturday morning.
"My Mom saw him while she was cooking breakfast," said neighbor, Oscar Gonzalez. "He was wearing brown camouflage clothes."
The same neighbor told the L.A. Times that Dorner stopped visiting a couple of months ago, but he said Friday that he made that statement before having talked with his mother. The Long Beach house on Dawson Street was swarmed by reporters Thursday night who had also tracked it down as Dorner-connected.
In a comprehensive story on Dorner's past, the Orange County Register cited Clark County Nevada Recorder's Office in reporting that in April, 2007, Carter married Dorner in Las Vegas right after his return from military duty in the Middle East.
"The two wed at the Chapel of the Flowers near the Las Vegas Strip," the Register reported. "It was unclear if the two remained married, but Dorner went on to buy property in Las Vegas. A home on Boston Springs Avenue went into default in 2010, according to the recorder's office. Another home on Loughton Street went into default Dec. 10, 2012."
Long Beach Neighbor Says Dorner Visited Regularly
Neighbor Gonzalez said despite the reported marital end, a large beefy African American man, usually in camo pants, often did yard work for the woman he knows only as April. They were visibly collegial, he said. "My Mom's sure it's him."
But she did not appear to be home Thursday night or chose not to greet the media clustered on her street, near Seventh Street and Cherry Avenue. Gonzalez said his neighbor moved in about eight years ago, which he remembered because she'd attended the 15th birthday of Gonzalez's sister. He said he's strung Christmas lights on his neighbor's house, and moved her car for street sweeping.
"She's a really nice person, a good neighbor," he said. "This whole thing is so upsetting."
If Dorner was in Long Beach, that would have been the day before the discovery of an Irvine couple he is now accused of shooting in a revenge attack that set in motion a violent series of events still unfolding. Various media reports have Dorner sending packages around Feb. 2 to media figures, including Anderson Cooper. Dorner's Facebook account was created Jan. 21, and loaded all of the photos - a gallery of his life - Jan. 22, 2013 via mobile.
Read here the manifesto that police say tipped them to Dorner, who implicated himself in the Irvine murders.
Focus Moves to Big Bear Lake
Thursday night, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Dept. was conducting a house-by-house search for the fired Los Angeles Police Department officer in the Big Bear area. Dorner was identified by police agencies as the suspect in the revenge slayings of a college basketball coach and her fiance in Irvine; he's also the prime suspect in the early morning ambush killing of a Riverside police officer.
The "blue alert" signaling a severe public threat by a suspect unleashed high-ranking security teams around named and unnamed Dorner targets according to an online message he posted. Thursday morning, in two separate incidents, LAPD and Torrance police officers erroneously fired at vehicles mistaken for Dorner's, wounding two women in a truck and missing the passengers of another vehicle, police told the Los Angeles Times. None of the wounds were seen as life-threatening but innocent bystanders were shot by law enforcement personnel on alert - along with the rest of Southern California.
The manhunt was wide but also focused late Thursday in the Big Bear area, where the suspect's truck was found burning just off a forest road. KABC-TV reported that 200 houses had been searched beofre 11 p.m. and 200 more were to be searched overnight, but that there'd been no signs of forced entry or a stolen vehicle.
Implicated in Irvine Double Murder
Dorner was identified Wednesday night as a suspect in the slayings of 28-year-old Monica Quan, a former Long Beach State basketball player, and her fiance, 27-year-old Keith Lawrence. They were found in his car Sunday at 9:10 p.m., shot to death atop their Irvine condo's parking garage.
According to police, Quan was the daughter of a retired LAPD captain who represented Dorner at the Board of Rights hearing that led to his LAPD firing, and the killings were carried out in an act of revenge outlined in a lengthy manifesto Dorner posted online -- blaming Quan's father for Dorner's job loss.
Read the attached legal appeal on this story.
The manifesto led police agencies to fan out in an effort to protect alleged targets. Several cities were involved. In Corona, Dorner's gray Nissan Titan pickup truck was spotted around 1:20 a.m. by a resident, who alerted a pair of LAPD officers, who happened to be en route to protect somebody named in Dorner's manifesto. The LAPD officers were trying to catch up to the vehicle near Interstate 15 and Magnolia Avenue when Dorner allegedly opened fire on them, grazing one officer in the head. The officers returned fire, but Dorner escaped.
Read a timeline of events on the Dorner case.
Dorner was described as wearing camouflage fatigues and using a shoulder- held weapon. A short time later, Dorner opened fire on two Riverside police officers who were stopped at a red light at Magnolia and Arlington avenues, according to Riverside police Lt. Guy Toussaint, adding that the two were on ``routine patrol'' and were not searching for Dorner at the time. One of the officers -- a 34-year-old, 11-year veteran of the force -- was killed.
The wounded Riverside officer, who is 27 years old, underwent surgery and is expected to fully recover, Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz said.
Dorner -- a U.S. Navy reservist whose last known address was in the 4900 block of Sharon Drive in La Palma -- is black, 6 feet tall and weighs 270 pounds. Here are more details about the manhunt for the ex-policeman.
On Thursday, the U.S. Navy released Dorner's military service record and his mental health was scrutinized, according to a San Diego news station.
Police warn that Dorner is considered armed and dangerous and anyone who might think they've seen him should call 9-1-1 immediately.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911, LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division at (213) 486-6860, or LAPD’s 24-hour tipline at (877)LAPD-247.
Anyone wanting to remain anonymous can contact CrimeStoppers at (800)222-TIPS.
Read Dorner's legal case in which he appeals his LAPD firing.
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