San Bernardino grandfather fatally shot while walking home

Family members Monday were mourning the death of a 57-year-old grandfather who was shot and killed in San Bernardino while walking home.

Deputies were dispatched to the 7000 block of Garden Drive in an unincorporated area of San Bernardino around 7:53 p.m. Saturday, KTLA-TV reported.

Manuel Bustos had gone to check on his son, who was attending a party next door, when he was shot in the chest. The victim died after being transferred to a hospital. He had been suffering from liver disease.

“I want to seek justice,” his wife, Ofelia Bustos, told KTLA-TV, adding her husband didn’t have enemies. The family held a vigil Sunday night. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is urged to contact (909)387-3589.

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State slams San Bernardino in redevelopment assets review

The State Controller's Office slammed the struggling city of San Bernardino in a review of assets formerly belonging to its redevelopment agency, saying the city inappropriately transferred or withheld more than $500 million in assets, including land, buildings and money.

The city filed for bankruptcy protection last summer, citing a $46-million general fund deficit.

The state's more than 400 redevelopment agencies, which used tax increment revenues for economic development and affordable housing projects, were dissolved in February 2012 and successor agencies were charged with disposing of their assets.

The state controller's review argued that San Bernardino's redevelopment agency "inappropriately" transferred $108 million to the San Bernardino Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit whose six-member governing board includes three members appointed by the City Council.

"The purpose of the asset transfer was to protect the RDA resources from elimination," the controller's report said.

Transient held in death of woman whose body was found in field

A 47-year-old transient was arrested in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found in a San Bernardino field, police said Monday night.

Jamie Farron Putnam was found near the 1700 block of South E  Street, where the body was recovered, police said.

The victim, who appeared to be in her 40s, showed evidence of blunt-force trauma, according to the San Bernardino Police Department. 

"A dispute between the victim and suspect may have led to the attack," police said in a statement.

Putnam was being held at county jail. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Michele Mahan at (909) 841-5361.

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Photo: Jamie Farron Putnam. Credit: San Bernardino Police Department

Funeral set today for deputy killed in Dorner shootout

A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy killed in a shootout last week with Christopher Dorner will be laid to rest Thursday.

A procession of public safety officials will accompany Jeremiah MacKay's body to San Bernardino's San Manuel Amphitheatre, where a memorial for the 35-year-old deputy was set to begin at 11 a.m. Thousands of mourners were expected to attend.

A private ceremony will follow at a local mortuary, officials said.

PHOTOS: Remembering a deputy

MacKay was hailed as a hero for his actions at the Big Bear-area cabin where the massive manhunt for Dorner, a former police officer suspected of violent rampage that left three others dead, came to an end on Feb. 12. Dorner died in the shootout from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as the cabin went up in flames, officials said.

For days MacKay, a 14-year department veteran, was involved in the search for Dorner in the mountains around Big Bear.

"We knew he was up there," MacKay's cousin Jennifer Goehring said. "We were praying for his safety, but never in a million years would we have thought this would happen."

WHO THEY WERE: Victims in the Dorner case

MacKay posted photos from the mountains on his Facebook page, joking about how he — who grew up in the San Bernardino Mountains — was one of the only officers wearing short-sleeved shirts in the snow.

Funeral plans set for sheriff's deputy killed in Dorner siege

The funeral for a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy who was killed in a firefight last week during the Christopher Dorner manhunt will be held Thursday at the San Manuel Amphitheater.

Police said Jeremiah MacKay, 35, was shot by Dorner during a standoff in an isolated area near Big Bear. The service is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, said Deputy Sheriff Lolita Harper. The amphitheater is at 2575 Glen Helen Parkway in San Bernardino.

A candlelight vigil open to the public will be held Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Yucaipa Community Center at 34900 Oak Glen Road in Yucaipa.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

MacKay was married to Lynette Quinata MacKay and had a 7-year-old stepdaughter and a 4-month-old son. Friends and family have described him as a boisterous man with a ready smile.

He was the fourth person believed to have died at the hands of Dorner in the former Los Angeles Police Department officer’s alleged rampage seeking revenge for his dismissal from the LAPD in 2009.

A second deputy, Alex Collins, was wounded in the gunfight, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said last week. Collins has undergone multiple surgeries and is expected to make a full recovery.

WHO THEY WERE: Victims in the Dorner case

MacKay, who grew up in the San Bernardino Mountains, joined the sheriff's department in July 1998, said San Bernardino County Sheriff's Capt. Lee Hamblin.

He worked in the jails, as a detective at the department's Big Bear station and most recently as a deputy in the department's Yucaipa station.  

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Photo: Jeremiah MacKay, center, was photographed with other deputies at the command center in Big Bear on Feb. 9. MacKay, a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy, was killed three days later in a firefight near Big Bear. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

Dorner case: 'We believe the investigation is over,' sheriff says

Although San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said he could not "absolutely, positively confirm" the body found in the charred rubble of a cabin was that of Christopher Dorner, he stressed that the manhunt for the fugitive former LAPD officer had been called off.

"We believe the investigation is over at this point," McMahon said at a news conference Wednesday.

Coroner's officials have yet to positively identify the body found in the Big Bear area cabin after a man thought to be Dorner engaged in an intense gun battle with officers. The cabin later caught fire and burned to its foundation.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

McMahon denied speculation that officers intentionally set the fire, saying officers first used traditional tear gas to flush the man out. When that didn't work, they opted to use CS gas canisters, which are known in law enforcement parlance as incendiary tear gas. These canisters, filled with more potent gas, have a significantly greater chance of starting a fire.

"We did not intentionally burn down that cabin," McMahon said.

Tuesday brought an end to a massive, days-long search for the wanted ex-police officer, sought in a series of killings that began Feb. 3 with the death of a newly engaged Irvine couple: Monica Quan, a Cal State Fullerton assistant basketball coach, and Keith Lawrence, a USC public safety officer.

WHO THEY WERE: Dorner's alleged victims

Quan was the daughter of the retired LAPD official who represented Dorner at his disciplinary hearing. According to a manifesto that officials say Dorner posted on Facebook, he felt the LAPD unjustly fired him after that hearing several years ago, when a disciplinary panel determined that he lied in accusing his training officer of kicking a mentally ill man during an arrest.

Dorner manhunt: Slain San Bernardino deputy identified

A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy killed by a gunman believed to have been Christopher Dorner knew of the danger he faced and had told a reporter Saturday of the tremendous risk as he scoured the mountains for the alleged cop killer.

"This one you just never know if the guy’s going to pop out, or where he’s going to pop out," Jeremiah MacKay told the Associated Press on Saturday.

"We’re hoping this comes to a close without more casualties," he said. "The best thing would be for him to give up."

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

MacKay, 35, has been identified as the officer killed Tuesday morning in a furious gun fight with a man believed to be Dorner, who had holed up in a cabin off an isolated road near Big Bear.

MacKay’s identity was confirmed Wednesday on the Inland Empire Emerald Society’s website, a nonprofit for fallen officers.

MacKay was a sheriff’s deputy based out of Yucaipa and graduated from Rim of the World High School in 1995. He was married and had children, according to his Facebook page. He was the sergeant-at-arms for the Emerald Society.

 TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

MacKay was one of several officers who chased the gunman believed to have been Dorner to the remote cabin after he was spotted by Fish and Wildlife rangers who were searching for him near the mountain resort community.

Funeral services were held early Wednesday for Riverside Police Officer Michael Crain, who was sitting at a stoplight with his partner when he was shot and killed by a man believed to have been Dorner.

Dorner, a former LAPD officer, is also accused of killing a young Irvine couple as they sat in their parked car.

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Dorner may have been hiding in plain sight near command center

Though he lived only half a mile from the command center, deputies never knocked on the door of Jim Rose’s house looking for Christopher Dorner, Rose told The Times on Wednesday.

“One friend said, ‘OK, so much for the inspection,' ” Rose, 78, said.

As it turned out, wanted murder suspect Christopher Dorner appears to have been hiding in plain sight, just a five-minute walk from where law enforcement officials from multiple agencies had centered their search operation for the ex-LAPD officer.

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More than 200 officers were involved the first night. Sheriff’s department officials said the search included more than 600 cabins over eight square miles.

It apparently did not include Rose's neighborhood, which it turns out, may have been where Dorner was hiding all along. The circumstance is reminiscent of the government’s search for Whitey Bulger, who was hiding under federal agents’ noses when he was captured.

"As far as I could tell, they did about as good as they could do," said Otis Farry, whose home is on Club View Drive. "Who would've known?"

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Farry's home abuts the Big Bear Lake golf course, which is across the street from the neighborhood that rises into the forest.

“I figured he was back in the woods somewhere, but the guy was right across the street,” said Bruce Doucett, 55, a certified public accountant who lives in the same condominium complex as the unit where Dorner was said to be hiding. “All I can say is that it’s a bit unnerving.”

Doucett said the condo in question had been vacant and clean since Thursday, the last time a tenant was there for a vacation rental.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Authorities aren't sure how long Dorner might have been in the condo. But Carl Macon, 53, said it was unsettling to know he walked his dog by the condo every day. He described Dorner's alleged acts as "something out of a suspense book."

Macon said his house has been tense, despite a visit by a SWAT team Thursday night as part of the cabin checks. Despite rumors Dorner might have left the mountain, Macon said he thought chances were good the fugitive had stayed — a lot of people he knew were on their toes.

But now, Macon said, it's "time to chill."

INTERACTIVE MAP: Searching for suspected shooter

“Time to crack open the champagne,” he said.

Manhunt: FBI searches Las Vegas home of fugitive ex-officer

Federal and local authorities served a search warrant at the Las Vegas home of an ex-police officer sought in connection with a series of shootings in Southern California, but said the suspect was not located.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller confirmed agents and Las Vegas police searched the home Thursday as part of the ongoing investigation into Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, but did not elaborate as to what was recovered. The surrounding neighborhood was cleared as a precaution, she said.

No one was home at the time, Eimiller said.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

Several law enforcement agencies are involved in the ongoing manhunt for Dorner and alerts have been issued all across California and in Nevada, warning Dorner was considered "armed and extremely dangerous." Dorner was believed to be carrying multiple weapons, including an assault rifle.

In California, a SWAT team clad in military fatigues spent Thursday afternoon combing the mountain community of Big Bear after Dorner's burned-out truck was found on a forest road. Authorities were going door-to-door and checking all vehicles coming and going from the mountain.

Dorner, who was fired from the LAPD in 2009, is suspected of shooting three police officers, one of whom died, in Riverside County early Thursday.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

He also is suspected of killing a couple who were found shot in a car in Orange County earlier this week. One of the victims was the daughter of a former LAPD captain named in a lengthy online manifesto that law enforcement officials attributed to Dorner.

Friend: Ex-cop 'last guy' expected to be manhunt murder suspect

Those who knew Christopher Jordan Dorner during college expressed shock at the news that the former college football player is allegedly responsible for shootings that have left three people dead and two wounded.

Dorner attended Southern Utah University from 1997 to 2001 and graduated with a bachelor of science with a major in political science and a minor in psychology, a university spokesman said.

Neil Gardner, an assistant athletic director who works with the student athletes in media relations, interacted with Dorner when he was on the school’s football team during the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Gardner said Dorner was a backup running back who didn’t play a lot, but was “never a disgruntled guy.”

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

“When he was in college he was a great kid,” Gardner said. “He was a kid you hoped would do well. He was polite. I liked him.” 

Jamie Usera, an attorney in Salem, Ore., said he met Dorner in the spring of 1998 at Southern Utah. Usera, who grew up in Alaska, said he and Dorner, an African American from Southern California, bonded over their shared feelings of culture shock that came with being outsiders on the predominantly white, Mormon campus.

Usera and Dorner eventually joined the football team as running backs and became good friends, Usera said. They shared long hours on the practice field, but neither saw much playing time and both decided to quit the team after two years.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

The friendship endured throughout their remaining years at the school. Usera said he introduced Dorner to the world of hunting and other outdoor sporting. Usera recalled frequent trips into the Utah desert to hunt rabbits with Dorner.

Nothing about Dorner in college raised any red flags that he was mentally unstable or capable of such violence, Usera said.

“He was a typical guy. I liked him an awful lot,” Usera said. “Nothing about him struck me as violent or irrational in any way.  He was opinionated, but always seemed level-headed.”

INTERACTIVE MAP: Searching for suspected shooter

Usera said he and Dorner frequently had lively discussions. A recurring theme was race relations in the U.S., and the two often had heated but respectful arguments about the extent of racism in the county, Usera said.