BREAKING- Manhunt Underway For Former Los Angeles Police Officer Suspected in Multiple Homicides

Aftermath of fatal ambush in which former LAPD officer Chris Dorner (inset) is suspected of opening fire on two Riverside police officers.

A 33 year old former Naval Reservist and LAPD officer is the subject of an intense, multi-state manhunt on the West Coast Thursday night after allegedly killing two people in Irvine, CA this month and opening fire on police officers in at least two southern California cities this week.

Police in California and Nevada are searching for 33 year old Chris Dorner after being named as a 'person of interest' in a double homicide in Orange County over the weekend. 28 year old Monica Quan and her fiancee Keith Lawrence, 27, were found shot to death in their car in a parking structure in Irvine, CA in the early morning hours on Sunday. Quan was an assistant coach for the UC Irvine Anteaters women's basketball team and also the daughter of the retired LAPD Captain who represented Dorner at his disciplinary hearings that led to Dorner's 2008 dismissal from the force.

Within hours of the double-homicide in Irvine, Dorner posted a lengthy manifesto online promising revenge on those he claimed were responsible for his dismissal from the LAPD. On Monday morning, a citizen in the San Diego suburb of National City reportedly finds 'police equipment' in a dumpster- although investigators at the time declined to elaborate- just that it wasn't immediately identified as belonging to Dorner or the LAPD. Police in National City send a bulleitin to other law enforcement agenices inquiring about the lost equipment.

Dorner, an ex-Navy reservist, reportedly checked into a hotel on the San Diego Naval Base earlier this week before somebody matching his description attempted to steal a boat from a yacht club in the Point Loma area of San Diego. The would-be theif was thwarted by mechanical problems and left the boat's 81 year old owner tied up.

Hours after the unsuccsessful boat theft, LAPD officers in Corona, CA assigned to guard one of the individuals named in the manifesto exchanged gunfire with an individual believed to be Dorner. That same morning, two police officers in Riverside, CA were ambushed while their marked police cruiser was sitting at a traffic light- one of the policemen died from his injuries while the second is expected to recover. As the search was being expanded into Nevada and northern California, two women delivering newspapers in a truck similar to Dorner's were shot by LAPD officers- one in the hand and the other in the back.

On Thursday afternoon, Dorner's truck was discovered engulfed in the mountain resort town of Big Bear- about 110 miles northeast of Los Angeles- as authorities locked down nearby schools and conducted door to door searches. However, searchers conceded that he could've stashed another vehicle in the area or carjacked another motorist after disposing of his truck. Meanwhile federal agents and a Las Vegas Police bomb squad combed through a home that Clark County, NV records showed was owned by Dorner. While FBI agents and the Nevada Highway Patrol issued bulleteins warning law enforcement to be on the lookout for anybody matching Dorner's description, investogators found no concrete evidence that he was planning on heading back to Las Vegas.

There are a number of disconcerning aspects about Dorner's manifesto- a portion apparently addressed to retired Lt Quan says that while it may be "too late" for Dorner to have a family of his own, he promises to take away Quon's. Dorner also hinted that he may have more to his arsenal than pistols or 5.56mm rifles.

Do not deploy airships or gunships. SA-7 Manpads will be waiting. As you know I also own Barrett .50's so your APC are defunct and futile.

What seems to have gotten little notice outside the social media and the conservative blogosphere is Dorner's gushing praise of President Obama, California Senator Dianne Feinstein as well as media and entertainment figures like Mia Farrow or CNN's Piers Morgan for their efforts on gun control while criticizing NRA president Wayne LaPierre, Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his family.

“Mr. Morgan, the problem that many American gun owners have with you and your continuous discussion of gun control is that you are not an American citizen and have an accent that is distinct and clarifies that you are a foreigner. I want you to know that I agree with you 100% on enacting stricter firearm laws. … If you had [sic] a well regulated AWB [assault-weapons ban], this would not happen. The time is now to reinstate a ban that will save lives. Why does any sportsman need a 30 round magazine for hunting? Why does anyone need a suppressor? Why does anyone need a AR15 rifle?”

Curiously, many of the same individuals who attempted to falsely link the Tea Party with the 2011 mass killings in Tuscon, AZ or 2012 theater shooting in Aurora, CO suddenly bristled when it was pointed out they were being praised by a suspected mass murderer.

In a 2009 shooting in Pittsburgh, PA that killed three police officers, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette felt it was worth pointing out that the shooter- Richard Poplawski- voted for Sen John McCain during the 2008 presidential election. Yet not quite four years later, a number of media outlets has decided that Dorner's political leanings were irrelevant and unimportant.