Christopher Dorner is gone and, some San Bernardino Mountains residents say, mostly and preferably forgotten.
Ten years after the rogue ex-Los Angeles Police Department officer made headlines nationwide by waging his deadly reign of terror from Irvine to Angelus Oaks, he has become something of a footnote, a curiosity, a patch of land, except for those whose lives he shattered — and even then, some victims and survivors would rather put the ordeal behind them.
“From our experience here, it’s not that huge of a thing (now). It’s more of a local legend. Everyone has a friend who was involved or heard about it,” said Dylan Hughes, 22, a manager at Chains Required bicycle shop on Big Bear Boulevard.
Hughes said he has lived in the Big Bear area for eight years and only recently learned about Dorner.
“Really it’s kind of just regarding this crazy guy who came up here and tied people up and died by police,” he said.
There’s much more to the story, however.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Christopher Dorner
Dorner was fired in 2008 for making false statements in a report in which he said a training supervisor kicked a suspect. In retaliation, Dorner declared “unconventional and asymmetric warfare” upon a list of LAPD officers and their families in a lengthy Facebook post.
On Feb. 3, 2013, Dorner killed Monica Quan and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence, in Irvine, police say. Quan was the daughter of Randal Quan, a former LAPD captain who represented Dorner during his 2008 dismissal hearing.
On Feb. 7, two LAPD officers on a protection detail in Corona were alerted to Dorner’s presence. They engaged in a gun battle, but Dorner escaped. About 20 minutes later, around 1:30 a.m., Dorner ambushed two Riverside officers, police say. Michael Crain was killed and Andrew Tachias, though gravely wounded, survived.
Later that day, Dorner’s burning vehicle was found on a mountain road in the Big Bear area. He took refuge in a complex of rental condominiums that…
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