David Perdue Shot At During Search For Fugitive Christopher Dorner
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A third person was reportedly shot at because police believed he was suspected cop killer and fugitive Christopher Dorner.
David Perdue was on his way to catch some waves on Thursday morning when, according to his lawyer, a Torrance, Calif. police cruiser "slammed into his pickup and officers opened fire," reports the Los Angeles Times.
The bullets missed Perdue, but his attorney, Robert Sheahen, said his client suffered a concussion and hurt his shoulder, making it temporarily impossible for him to work at his job as a baggage handler at LAX. Perdue's car was also totaled, Sheahen told the Times.
The Torrance Police Department said the incident was a case of mistaken identity. Officers thought Perdue's truck was Dorner's pickup.
The department issued this statement to the Times:
"The circumstances of the incident known to the responding officers would have led a reasonable officer under normal circumstances -- and these were far from normal circumstances -- to believe that fellow officers were being shot at and that the vehicle traveling toward them posed a serious risk.
"In the split seconds available to them," the statement continued, "action was appropriate to intervene and stop the actions of the driver of that vehicle."
Sheahen told the Los Angeles Daily News that the officers' actions were "violent and reckless."
The paper notes that "Perdue is a thin white man who looks nothing like Dorner" who is black and heavier set.
"In light of the officer's attempt to kill Mr. Perdue Mr. and Mrs. Perdue would like to know what, if any, disciplinary action the Torrance Police Department intends to take against the officers involved," Sheahen said in a letter sent to the department and obtained by the Daily News. "They would also like to know what the (department) intends to do to make sure that their community is not endangered like this in the future."
The incident is still under investigation, according to the Times.
The shooting is the second case of mistaken identity associated with the search for Dorner.
Also on Thursday, two women were shot at by Los Angeles Police officers because their truck was mistaken for Dorner's. At the time, there was a report that Dorner had been spotted in the neighborhood.
KPCC reported on Sunday that the two women were released from the hospital, according to their attorney.
Dorner's actual truck was discovered "deserted and in flames" on the side of Bear Mountain, Calif. on Thursday, according to ABC News.
Authorities have offered a $1 million reward for information that leads to the arrest of Dorner, a former LAPD cop and Navy reservist accused of killing three people.
wtf? i know the lapd is in a serious man-hunt mode to capture former officer chris dorner, but this is starting to be kinda like a scene from the over-zealous and suspicious cops in a scene from 'the negotiator' move, starring samuel l. jackson. like someone is saying "take him down," regardless.
innocent people are being gravely affected by the lack of leadership metted out by a few crazy law enforcement personnel. will they be fired?
note: i'm still in the mind-set that chris dorner should be captured. his killing people for revenge is not good.
also read: http://www.stripes.com/ne...y-1.207333
excerpt:
LOS ANGELES—David Perdue was on his way to sneak in some surfing before work Thursday morning when police flagged him down. They asked who he was and where he was headed, then sent him on his way.
Seconds later, Perdue’s attorney said, a Torrance police cruiser slammed into his pickup and officers opened fire; none of the bullets struck Perdue.
His pickup, police later explained, matched the description of the one belonging to Christopher Jordan Dorner — the ex-cop who has evaded authorities after allegedly killing three and wounding two more. But the pickups were different makes and colors. And Perdue looks nothing like Dorner: He’s several inches shorter and about a hundred pounds lighter. And Perdue is white; Dorner is black.
[Edited 2/12/13 11:40am]
Posted: 02/11/2013 11:36 am EST