STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- New: Police say phone tip of Dorner sighting in San Diego area was likely a hoax
- Police believe former cop Christopher Jordan Dorner shot three officers, killing one
- This was days after he allegedly killed two people, one a retired LAPD officer's daughter
- In an 11-page manifesto, Dorner promises "war" on police and their families
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Police continued the massive manhunt for Christopher Dorner early Friday in a California mountain town despite the bitter cold and the chilling fact that the angry ex-cop may also be looking for them.
As quickly as Dorner had emerged on the scene with his guns, bravado and bitter manifesto, the burly man, who is wanted for three murders, had disappeared, it seemed.
Investigators suspect him of killing three people, a police officer and another officer's daughter and fiance, to settle a score for what he called an unjust firing.
Early Friday it seemed a while that the focus of the search had shifted to the San Diego area where someone called authorities to say they may have spotted Dorner near the Barona Indian Reservation there. Officers were searching that area, said Sgt. Jason Rothlein of the San Diego County Sheriff Department. He later said the phone call was likely a hoax.
Police on Thursday afternoon found the military-trained marksman's torched pickup truck near Big Bear Lake, about 100 miles east of the Los Angeles area where the killings had taken place.
But hours later, despite hundreds of officers, helicopters and door to door searches, everybody was still looking for Dorner.
And maybe at the same time looking over their shoulders.
He wants revenge
Dorner, authorities said, is bent on vengeance against LAPD officers he claims ruined his life by forcing him out of his dream job. The 270-pound former Navy lieutenant detailed his rage in an 11-page manifesto. In that letter -- provided to CNN by an LAPD source -- he vowed to violently target police officers and their families, whoever and wherever they are.
"I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty," Dorner wrote.
"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I'm terminating yours."
Authorities believe he followed through on his threats early Thursday by shooting a Riverside, California, police officer and two others. A day earlier, Irvine police named Dorner a suspect in the double slayings Sunday of a woman -- identified by Los Angeles police as the daughter of a retired LAPD officer -- and her fiance.
Mood 'tense' among officers
"My opinion of the suspect is unprintable," said Riverside police Chief Sergio Diaz, hours after one of his officers was killed. "The manifesto, I think, speaks for itself (as) evidence of a depraved and abandoned mind and heart."
The violence, as well as Dorner's background as a police officer and military-trained marksman, left police on edge around Southern California.
In Torrance, LAPD officers guarding one of Dorner's alleged targets mistakenly opened fire on a blue pickup truck that resembled one Dorner was thought to be driving, said Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck.
The gunfire left two people wounded, Beck said. Torrance police also fired on another blue pickup, but no one was injured in that incident, according to a senior law enforcement source.
Targeting police
It all started Sunday when Dorner allegedly killed two people in Irvine, according to police.
Police identified the victims as Monica Quan and her fiance Keith Lawrence.
Quan, 27, was the daughter of retired Los Angeles police Officer Randal Quan, LAPD Officer Tenesha Dobine told CNN. In his manifesto, Dorner said Quan handled his appeal.
On Tuesday, Dorner checked into the Navy Gateway Inns and Suites on San Diego's large naval base, Cmdr. Brad Fagan said.
Dorner likely had access to the hotel because he'd been honorably discharged from the Navy Reserve, said the Navy spokesman. Having retired February 1 as a lieutenant, Dorner worked with mobile inshore undersea warfare units and provided security on oil platforms in Iraq, according to Pentagon records. He was rated as a rifle marksman and pistol expert.
"He did not physically check out," Wednesday as expected, Fagan told reporters.
Police in San Diego say a man who could have been Dorner tried to hijack a boat there on Wednesday. Someone later found a wallet containing Dorner's identification and an LAPD detective's badge near the San Diego airport, according to police. It was unclear whether the badge was legitimate.
Timeline in manhunt for former L.A. cop
By about 1 a.m. Thursday, the scene had shifted about 100 miles north to Corona, California.
There, a pair of LAPD officers on a protection detail were flagged down by a citizen who reported seeing the suspect's vehicle, LAPD Deputy Chief Jose Perez said.
The officers chased the vehicle and caught up to it on an Interstate 15 off-ramp.
"The officers were fired upon with a shoulder weapon," Perez said, with one of them suffering a "graze wound" to his head. The police returned fire, while the suspect set off once again.
About 20 minutes later, two police officers were in their car at a stop light in Riverside when Dorner allegedly pulled up beside them.
That driver unleashed "multiple rounds" from a rifle at the officers, riddling the cop car with bullets and leaving a 34-year-old officer, who had been on the Riverside force for 11 years, dead, according to Diaz. The other officer, 27, was "seriously wounded but we expect a full recovery," the Riverside police chief said.
Sends a message to the media
In addition to posting his manifesto online, Dorner reached out directly to CNN, mailing a parcel to AC360 anchor Anderson Cooper's office at CNN in New York.
The package arrived on February 1 and was opened by Cooper's assistant. Inside was a hand-labeled DVD, accompanied by a yellow Post-it note reading, in part, "I never lied" -- apparently in reference to his 2008 dismissal from the LAPD.
The package also contained a coin wrapped in duct tape. The tape bears the hand-written inscription: "Thanks, but no thanks, Will Bratton." It also had letters that may be read as "IMOA", which could be a commonly used Internet abbreviation for "Imagine a More Open America," or possibly "1 MOA," which means one minute of angle, perhaps implying Dorner was notably accurate with a firearm.
The coin is a souvenir medallion from former LAPD Chief William Bratton, of a type often given out as keepsakes. This one, though, was shot through with bullet holes: three bullet holes to the center and another shot nicked off the top.
The editorial staff of AC360 and CNN management were made aware of the package Thursday. Upon learning of its existence, they alerted Bratton and law enforcement.
Bratton headed the LAPD at the time Dorner was dismissed.
The dispute centers on a 2007 incident in San Pedro involving a man's arrest at a DoubleTree hotel. Two weeks later, Dorner accused his training officer of kicking the man after he'd given up.
The investigators' report said "the delay in reporting the alleged misconduct coupled with the witness' statements irreparably destroy Dorner's credibility." The report cited contradictory accounts from the arrested man and his father and denials by the accused officer and three hotel employees that the arrested man had been kicked. Dorner claims he was wrongly ousted for blowing the whistle on what he insists was police abuse.
Suspect's grudge dates back to 2007 complaint
Dorner challenged his firing for years, losing at every turn. First, the police department's Board of Rights rejected his appeal. Then, in October 2011, a judge ruled against his appeal, according to court records.
Beck, the Los Angeles police chief, said Thursday that Dorner's case had been "thoroughly reviewed" and said the department would not apologize to Dorner or clear his name.
But as his manifesto shows, Dorner is showing no sign of relenting.
Authorities locked down the Big Bear area Thursday after Dorner's truck was found. But late in the evening, after a fruitless search, no sightings or tips about Dorner's whearabouts, San Bernardino sheriff officials announced that schools and the local ski resort would open Friday.
The announcement fueled speculation that Dorner may have escaped the area.
"He could be anywhere at this point," San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said.
CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton, Sara Weisfeldt, Barbara Starr, Pete Janos, Mallory Simon and Deanna Hackney contributed to this report.
