Dorner manhunt: Victim of carjacking says suspect pointed gun at him

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Rick Heltebrake was in the San Bernardino Mountains on Tuesday when he saw a movement in the trees, and then a man started approaching him.

‘Here comes the guy with a big gun,’ Heltebrake told KTLA, saying he believed that it was fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner, wanted in the deaths of a young engaged couple and two law enforcement officers.

The suspect appeared to have crashed his vehicle into a snowbank, Heltebrake told the station, and was approaching his vehicle. Heltebrake, a local resident and ranger at a nearby Boy Scout camp, had his Dalmatian, Suni, in the passenger seat.

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‘He just kind of came out of the snow with his gun at my head,’ he told the TV station. ‘He looked at my dog ... he said, ‘Take your dog and start walking.’’

Heltebrake said he asked if he could get his dog’s leash, and the suspect told him no. Heltebrake said that 10 seconds after he started walking down the road with his hands up, he heard a round of gunfire.

Dorner, whose alleged crimes have kept Southern California on edge for days, was believed by police to have been in a cabin that caught fire Tuesday following a shootout with law enforcement. Charred human remains were found in the cabin, and investigators will attempt to identify the remains.

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-- Times staff