LAPD ‘Had No Idea’ Who They Were Shooting At in Dorner Pursuit, Says Victims’ Lawyer

By Jorge Rivas Feb 11, 2013

The search for the man dubbed the "LAPD Cop Killer" has led to three different innocent people being shot at by Southern California police. All three victims looked nothing like Chris Dorner, the target in the manhunt that’s gone on for close to a week.

Last Thursday, two women who were were delivering newspapers in the early morning hours were shot by Los Angeles police in Torrance, California. Margie Carranza, 47, received a bullet wound to the hand and her mother, Emma Hernandez, 71, was shot twice in her back. Both women are expected to recover.

In a separate incident on Thursday a white male going to surf early in the morning was left with a truck full of bullet holes. David Perdue wasn’t struck by bullets but was injured in the car wreck, suffering a concussion and an injury to his shoulder, his lawyer told the LA Times.

In both incidents the victims’ trucks were a different make and color than the Nissan Titan truck that belonged to Dorner.

"I don’t want to use the word buffoonery but it really is unbridled police lawlessness," Robert Sheahen, Perdue’s attorney, told the LA Times. "These people need training and they need restraint."

In the case with the two women, neighbors say at least seven officers shot at the vehicle, leaving bullet holes in neighboring cars, trees, garage doors and roofs.

"How do you mistake two Hispanic women, one who is 71, for a large black male?" resident Richard Goo, 62, told the Huffington Post. He reported the entryway to his house showed five bullet holes.

"It’s 100 percent clear that they had no idea who was in that vehicle and just lit it up," said the attorney representing the two women in an interview with Reason.com.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck met with the women in their Torrance home Saturday to apologize and tell them he had arranged for someone to donate a new pickup truck.

The LA Times reports authorities are receiving numerous calls reporting sightings of a man who appears to be Dorner.

Most recently, on Sunday evening, Los Angeles police rushed to a Lowes Hardware in Northridge because they received a tip that Dorner was shopping in the store. The search resulted in nothing.

Earlier in the week Dorner was purportedly driving a white Lexus near Barstow. The LA Times reports "he was supposedly spotted entering the county jail in downtown Los Angeles. He was allegedly holed up in a hotel in San Diego or in a park in Norco or at a home next to the Barona Indian Reservation in San Diego County."

None of those tips checked out. The good news is there haven’t been anymore reports of innocent people being shot at.

Some Angelenos are taking their Dorner anxiety and turning in to memes. Check out some of the #DornerMemes seen in LA this past week.