Tag Archives: Buena Park

911 calls reveal fear, anger during Calif. rampage

The construction worker was in a panic. He shouted into his phone.

“There is one guy down! It’s a white truck! There are shots fired! … The guy has a shotgun and I need an ambulance too! There is someone who has been shot.”

The frenzied 911 call came from the worker whose foreman was fatally shot in the wide-ranging rampage of a 20-year-old Orange County man who authorities say killed three people before fatally turning the gun on himself.

The worker stayed on the phone with the emergency operator as he chased the suspect himself.

“Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! I’m gonna follow him,” the call said. “Hurry up, he’s going to get into the freeway. He’s getting into the 55 freeway … he’s going to escape if you don’t hurry up!”

Sirens could then be heard in the background.

The call was one of several released by authorities on Wednesday, the day after the shooting spree of 20-year-old Ali Syed, who authorities described as a video game-playing loner who lived with his parents and spent hours holed up in his room.

The first victim, identified Wednesday as Courtney Aoki, 20, of Buena Park, was shot multiple times inside Syed’s home.

Authorities don’t know her occupation, how she might have known Syed, how she got in the house — or what drove Syed to kill her with a shotgun and then leave a trail of dead and wounded as he stole a series of cars and eventually committed suicide at an intersection.

“There is no evidence, no notes that would explain his very bizarre and violent behavior,” Amormino said, adding there was no evidence of a sexual assault and the woman was found fully clothed.

Syed had no criminal history and no history of mental illness or mental disability, said Lt. Paul Garaven, a Tustin police spokesman.

A 12-gauge shotgun used in the killings belonged to Syed and was purchased by his father about a year ago, Amormino said.

Attorney Vincent John LaBarbera Jr. made a statement for Syed’s family Wednesday …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

LAPD to reopen investigation into fugitive ex-cop's firing

The hunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings entered a fourth day in snow-covered mountains Sunday, a day after the LAPD chief ordered a review of the disciplinary case that led to the fugitive’s dismissal and new details emerge of the evidence he left behind.

Officials will re-examine the allegations by Christopher Dorner, 33, that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues, Police Chief Charlie Beck announced Saturday. While he promised to hear out Dorner if he surrenders, Beck stressed that he was ordering a review of his 2007 case because he takes the allegation of racism in his department seriously.

“I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do,” the chief said in a statement.

Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that left three people dead. Authorities say he has vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career. The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide protection to 50 families, Beck said.

A captain who was named a target in the manifesto posted on Facebook told the Orange County Register he has not stepped outside his house since he learned of the threat.

“From what I’ve seen of (Dorner’s) actions, he feels he can make allegations for injustice and justify killing people and that’s not reasonable,” said Capt. Phil Tingirides, who chaired a board that stripped Dorner of his badge. “The end never justifies the means.”

On Saturday, the scaled-back search party took advantage of a break from stormy weather to look for Dorner in the San Bernardino mountains, about 80 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, where his burned-out pickup truck was discovered Thursday.

A law enforcement officer told The Associated Press authorities found weapons in the truck. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe is ongoing.

Investigators have been examining the truck to determine if it broke down or was set ablaze as a diversion. Police say the truck had a broken axle. Investigators are trying to determine whether it was already broken when they found it, or whether it was damaged when it was towed away.

Also, newly released surveillance video showed Dorner tossing several items into a Dumpster behind an auto parts store in National City on Monday. The store’s manager told FOX5 in San Diego that an employee found a magazine full of bullets, a military belt and a military helmet. Majid Yahyai said he and the employee took the items across the street to a police station.

On Friday night, authorities served a search warrant and collected evidence from a Buena Park storage unit as part of their investigation. Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of the evidence or say who had rented the unit.

Earlier Friday, another warrant was served at a La Palma house …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News