DORNER INVESTIGATION: Gunshot Wound to Head Appears Self-Inflicted

The wound that took quadruple-homicide suspect Christopher Dorner's life Tuesday at a burning cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains appears to be self-inflicted, a sheriff's captain said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

Riverside County coroner's personnel conducted the autopsy, which took about six hours on Thursday Feb. 14, San Bernardino County sheriff's Capt. Kevin Lacy said.

"Yesterday beginning at about 9 o'clock the Riverside County coroner's office began the autopsy of the unidentified body that was recovered from the mountains here in our county the previous day," Lacy said.

"The autopsy took about six hours and during the course of the autopsy, two significant findings were made," Lacy said.

"One was that we were able to identify through a dental examination that the body that we recovered was in fact that of Christopher Dorner," Lacy said.

"The second important finding that was made was something that we have not been talking about yet, and that is the cause of death," Lacy said. "During the autopsy yesterday, the doctor who conducted the process concluded that the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head.

"We are not at this point ready to speak about the manner of death and tell you whether or not it was as a result of a self-inflicted wound or another round," Lacy said.

"We will tell you that while we are still compiling the information, and putting our reports together, the information that we have right now seems to indicate that the wound that took Christopher Dorner's life was self-inflicted."

The morning of Saturday Feb. 16, workers were putting up fence around the burned wreckage of the cabin on Seven Oaks Road where Dorner's charred remains were located after an intense gun battle with deputies, who eventually used pyrotechnic gas that set the cabin afire.

Authorities believe Dorner, who was fired by the Los Angeles Police Department in 2009, is accountable for four killings in the space of ten days: a former LAPD captain's daughter and her fiancé in Irvine on Feb. 3, Riverside police Officer Michael Crain on Feb. 7, and San Bernardino County sheriff's Detective Jeremiah MacKay on Feb. 12.

Crain was a Redlands High School graduate, a student at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, and a Beaumont resident. MacKay worked in the Big Bear area and Yucaipa and he was a resident of Redlands. Both men leave behind wives and young children.

For a report on the full news conference, click here.

Related News:

• DORNER'S LAST STAND: Fugitive Kept Trying to Shoot More Deputies at Cabin
• DORNER IS DEAD: Confirmed ID of Charred Remains Made in Autopsy
• REDLANDS MOURNS: Slain Detective is Second Local Victim Tied to Dorner
• VIDEO: Thousands Mourn Loss of Slain Riverside Police Officer Michael Crain
• MANHUNT SHOOTOUT: Angelus Oaks Family Recalls Massive Response on 38
• DORNER MANHUNT: Mountain Search for Alleged Cop-Killer to Go Thru Night
• Murder Charges Filed Against Chris Dorner in Redlands High Grad's Death
• Funeral Service Information for Slain Riverside Police Officer Mike Crain
• $1 Million Reward Offered For Dorner's Capture
• LAPD Chief Beck's Full Statement on Reviewing Dorner's Termination Case
• MANHUNT: Search For Rogue Former Cop Continues
• DORNER MANHUNT: Armed Deputies Vigilant on Snowbound Mountain Roads
• Winter Storm Warning for Mountains Where Dorner Search is Under Way
• DORNER MANIFESTO: Rogue Officer Posted His Plan for 'Last Resort' Online

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