STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
We're also following a story in Southern California: the ongoing hunt for a former policeman suspected of a killing spree. Christopher Dorner is sought in the shooting of three people last week. The mayor of Los Angeles announced the city is offering a $1 million reward for any information leading to his arrest. As NPR's Kirk Siegler reports, one of the largest manhunts in California history is now going into its fifth day, with no major leads.
KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Yesterday afternoon, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, along with police and FBI agents, faced reporters and a bank of TV cameras at LAPD headquarters.
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SIEGLER: Villaraigosa said the million-dollar reward is being funded by police departments, business and unions who want life in the city to return to normal.
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SIEGLER: That reign of terror, as the mayor put it, started more than a week ago when authorities believe Christopher Dorner began a string of shootings, apparent vengeance for his firing from the LAPD. As the news conference was going on, the manhunt for Dorner continued in earnest more than a hundred miles to the east in the San Bernardino Mountains. After more than three days of searching in the area where his burned-out pickup truck was found, there's still no sign of Dorner anywhere, and no leads. A frustrated and tired-looking Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck yesterday pledged the search will continue there and elsewhere, though. So will the 50 protection details at the homes of officers and their families Dorner is believed to have named in his online manifesto.
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SIEGLER: Beck stressed numerous times that investigators are relying heavily on the public for tips, hence the reward. But he also knows there are some people who simply won't want to help the LAPD, regardless of the circumstances.
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SIEGLER: To that end, Chief Beck has announced his department will reopen its investigation into the incident that led to Christopher Dorner's firing for making false statements. Police say he made up reports of fellow officers using excessive violence and making racial slurs. In his apparent manifesto, Dorner says those conditions are rampant across the LAPD. He writes: People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones - a reference to the department's towering new glass headquarters downtown.
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SIEGLER: And in the streets outside headquarters, sirens echo. There are cops and roadblocks everywhere - very visible signs of the anxiety among police that Chief Beck described. Kirk Siegler, NPR News.
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