A gunfight broke out Tuesday between law enforcement officers and a man they believe to be the fugitive ex-cop wanted in three murders across Southern California.
Gunfire was heard in the mountain area where the search for fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was focused Tuesday following reports of a new sighting of the man who is the object of a massive manhunt.
The shots could be heard, along with tense shouts of officers, on a KCAL-TV broadcast from the scene in the Big Bear area. CBS reported Dorner was heavily armed and engaging in gunfire.
KCAL-TV reported he exchanged gunfire with state fish and game officers.
An officer, who was not named, told The Associated Press it's believed Christopher Dorner committed a residential burglary of a cabin and had a couple tied up in the cabin. One was able to get away and make a call.
Authorities responded to the location and gave chase Tuesday when Dorner fled in a stolen car. Gunfire was exchanged.
The area is in the Club View Road area of Big Bear region where a search for Dorner has been under way since his pickup truck was found there Thursday.
San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said a stolen vehicle report from a residence was received at 12:20 p.m.
"The reporting party identified the suspect as looking like Christopher Dorner but that has not been confirmed," Miller said.
The station reported it was in an area with vacation homes the Big Bear community of San Bernardino County, a mountainous area east of Los Angeles.
San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies are calling for all available units to respond to an area of Highway 38, just south of Big Bear where a woman was found tied up and a suspect was fleeing the scene, according to sheriff's dispatchers on police scanners, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.
