Police are searching for a suspect in the murder of a Cal State Fullerton basketball coach, with a fired Los Angeles police officer appearing to be the main culprit.
According to the Associated Press, authorities are looking for former LAPD officer and U.S. Navy reservist Christopher Jordan Dorner in the case of the killings of Monica Quan, 28, and her 27-year-old fiance, Keith Lawrence, who were found shot to death in their car at a parking structure Sunday night, Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard said at a news conference.
The police said that there was a connection between the Cal State Fullerton basketball coach and the officer, as her father represented the suspect in front of a disciplinary board when he lost his job, police said Wednesday night.
The report says that Dorner has implicated himself in the crimes, as he had a multipage "manifesto" that he wrote that included threats against a number of people, possibly the couple, but the police would give no further details on the document or its contents.
"We have strong cause to believe Dorner is armed and dangerous," Maggard said, adding that the LAPD and FBI are assisting in the case, and that anyone who sees the suspect should immediately call 911.
Dorner was with the department from 2005 until 2008, but he was fired after making false statements, which led him to Quan's father, Randal Quan, a former LAPD captain who became a lawyer in retirement. The father represented Dormer in front of the Board of Rights, a tribunal that ruled against Dorner at the time of his dismissal, LAPD Capt. William Hayes told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.
According to the AP: "Randal Quan, who the LAPD said was the first Chinese American captain in department history, retired in 2002. He later served as chief of police at Cal Poly Pomona and went on to practice law." The manifesto has many threats, including against police officers in the LAPD.
"We are looking at the manifesto and will do an assessment in terms of the threat against those listed in it, and determine what level of protection each of them will need," Hayes said.
According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dormer was dismissed after filing a complaint against a field training officer, saying that she did something she did not too, in kicking a suspect while being brough in.
According to the AP: Richard Gettler, the schizophrenic man's father, gave testimony that supported Dorner's claim. After his son was returned on July 28, 2007, Richard Gettler asked "if he had been in a fight because his face was puffy" and his son responded that he was kicked twice in the chest by a police officer, he testified.
Autopsies showed both Monica Quan and Lawrence were killed by multiple gunshot wounds. The two were found dead in their car in their condo parking lot in Irvine.
The school released a statement following the news:
"We can confirm that the information we have at this time indicates that Cal State Fullerton Assistant Women's Basketball Coach Monica Quan was a victim in what law enforcement is characterizing as an apparent double homicide in Irvine. We hope that Monica's family and friends will feel and be comforted by our support during this difficult time. Counselors will be working with our staff and student-athletes as we all begin to struggle with the suddenness of losing such a special member of our university."
According to the Daily Mail, Quan's father is a former LAPD captain and the two recently moved into the apartment where the car had been parked when they were killed. The two met as undergraduates at Concordia while playing at the university's basketball team. The new condo complex reportedly has apartments that sell up to $1 million.
