The remote California mountain cabin in which fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner has barricaded himself in tense standoff with police is on fire, following a shootout with police in which one officer was killed and another wounded.
A single shot was heard from inside the cabin before flames and a large column of black smoke was seen rising above the snow-covered trees near Big Bear, Calif., ABC station KABC-TV in Los Angeles reported.
Dorner is a former Navy marksman and Los Angeles Police Department officer charged with murdering a police officer and suspected in the deaths of two other people, including the daughter of a former LAPD captain, earlier this month.
Dozens of local, state and federal authorities are at the scene in the San Bernardino Mountains, and have the the cabin surrounded. Dorner has sworn to kill police and their family members in a manifesto discovered online last week.
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The search for Dorner, one of the largest manhunts in recent memory, took a turn this afternoon when police received a call that a suspect resembling Dorner had broken into a home in the Big Bear area, taken hostages and stolen a car.
Police said the former cop, believed to be heavily armed and extremely dangerous, took two women hostage before stealing a car just around 12:20 p.m. PT, police said.
Los Angeles Police Department/AP Photo
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The two hostages, who were tied up by Dorner but later escaped, were evaluated by paramedics and were determined to be uninjured.
Officials say Dorner crashed the stolen vehicle and fled on foot to the cabin where he barricaded himself and exchanged fire with deputies from the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office and state Fish and Game officers.
Two deputies were wounded in the firefight and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one died, police said. The second deputy was in surgery and was expected to survive, police said.
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Police have sealed all roads going into the area and imposed a no-fly zone above the cabin, nestled in a wooded area that has received several inches of snow in recent days.
Four Big Bear area schools were briefly placed on lockdown.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department stopped all traffic leaving the area and thoroughly searched vehicles, as SWAT team and tactical units could be seen driving toward the cabin, their sirens blaring.
Authorities say they believe Dorner may be watching reports of the standoff and have asked media not to broadcast images of police surrounding the cabin.
"If he's watching this, the message ... is: Enough is enough. It's time to turn yourself in. It's time to stop the bloodshed. It's time to let this event and let this incident be over," said Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Andy Smith, told reporters at a press conference.
Dorner faces capital murder charges that involve the killing of Riverside police officer Michael Crain, who was gunned down in an ambush last Thursday.
Since then a massive manhunt has been under way, focused primarily in the San Bernardino Mountains, but extending to neighboring states and as far away as Mexico.
A capital murder charge could result in the death penalty if Dorner is captured alive and convicted. Crain was married with two children, aged 10 and 4.
Officer Dies After Dorner Shootout; Cabin on Fire
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Officer Dies After Dorner Shootout; Cabin on Fire
