Manhunt Continues In Big Bear For Accused Cop Killer Christopher Dorner
UPDATE 12:21 a.m.: Officials said the ground search for Dorner in Big Bear will continue at 7 a.m. Saturday morning, weather permitting.
A news conference on the ongoing manhunt is scheduled for 12 p.m.
BIG BEAR (CBSLA.com) — The massive manhunt for a disgruntled former Los Angeles police officer turned accused killer entered its second day Friday in the San Bernardino Mountains.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: SoCal Manhunt
Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said in a 4 p.m. press conference that hundreds of officers will continue to search for Christopher Dorner in an 8-square-mile radius of Big Bear until they determine he's not in the area.
Authorities were focused on 200 vacant cabins in the hunt for the fugitive.
They also conducted door-to-door searches of hundreds of homes.
So far, 400 homes and local ski resorts have been cleared, according to KCAL9's Suraya Fadel.
However, Bachman said, "The danger is the fact that he could be out there....there's a possibility he's out there, so that's why we're searching."
The spokeswoman also confirmed that Dorner's mother owned land in Arrowbear, which is 30 miles from Big Bear.
Dorner is wanted for the murder of a young Irvine couple on Feb. 3 and a Riverside police officer Thursday. The 33-year-old is also accused of shooting and injuring two additional police officers.
His burned-out truck was found Thursday morning on a service road in the mountains near Big Bear, prompting a huge search effort that went through the night. The vehicle is being processed for evidence in Riverside and will be turned over to the Irvine Police Department. It's unclear what evidence, if any, may have been recovered from the truck.
Officials from the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Riverside Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, FBI, Irvine Police Department, Orange County Sheriff's Department, Pomona Police Department, the US Forest Service and CalFire participated in the manhunt.
Despite the use of helicopters and search dogs, they saw no sign of Dorner.
Snow began falling around 1:30 a.m. Friday, which then prevented helicopters from aiding in the search.
Dorner is considered armed and extremely dangerous.
"Residents are advised to open their doors only to those they know or uniformed law enforcement officers," Jodi Miller of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said.
Bear Mountain and Snow Summit ski resorts were open Friday.
"We are very grateful of our law enforcement agencies for working around the clock on this case. We will continue to cooperate with authorities in any way we can to help with this situation," Big Bear Lake Resort Association Board of Directors President Joyce Reed said.
Schools in the Bear Valley Unified School District were closed due to the manhunt. The Rim of the World School District was closed due to weather.
