LAPD Husband, Wife Targeted By Dorner Break Silence About Manhunt
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — LAPD Chief Charlie Beck held a news conference to discuss the latest updates on the Christopher Dorner investigation Tuesday and announced the department hasn't yet decided how to disburse the $1-million reward.
» COMPLETE COVERAGE: Dorner Manhunt and Investigation
"Not only is this reward the largest in local law enforcement history, it's also one of the most complicated," Beck said. "It is my desire that the reward money be used. We generated countless tips because of it. It should be paid out."
Beck said that the reward, whether it goes to one person or is split among several tipsters, has to be allocated fairly.
More than 30 donors, made up of local municipalities and private donors, contributed towards the reward.
A husband and wife who serve with the LAPD and were targeted by Dorner broke their silence at the news conference and discussed being placed under police protection during the manhunt.
"The whole time, for us, it was about being strong for our kids," Captain Phil Tingirides said.
The couple brought six children into the marriage, ranging from 10 to 24 years old.
"We decided to try and get the children out of the house to instill some normalcy in their lives," Sergeant Emada Tingirides said. "So, we did leave the house, we did so with fear, we did so with anxiety, but we also did so with pride."
"We found that [the experience] brought our family closer together," Phil Tingirides said.
The couple commended the LAPD on how well they protected their family during the manhunt.
"The LAPD served our family so well," Emada Tingirides said.
The couple was among 50 officers named by Dorner in a manifesto he published online, where he details his plan to exact revenge on those he deemed responsible for his firing.
"I never had the opportunity to have a family of my own, I'm terminating yours," Dorner wrote.
Those families endured unimaginable fear and were forced to shutter themselves into their homes until the manhunt ended.
"Yes, we're police officers. We all sign up for something where we're at risk. Our families don't sign up for that, our children don't sign up for that," Beck said.
"I think it's really important that we put this in perspective. Even though much of this is about Christopher Dorner, we have to remember the victims…" the police chief said.
Those victims have been reported as Monica Quan, 28, her fiancé Keith Lawrence, 27, Riverside police Officer Michael Crain, 34, and 35-year-old San Bernardino Sheriff's detective Jeremiah MacKay.
Beck also mentioned that he still had an investigator reviewing the disciplinary case that led to Dorner's termination from the LAPD but that it's still too early to discuss the findings.
While Dorner was at large, Beck announced to CBS2 that he would reopen the case not to appease Dorner but to renew the pubic's faith in the police department and its processes.
"I'll be waiting for a PUBLIC response at a press conference. When the truth comes out, the killing stops," Dorner wrote. "The attacks will stop when the department states the truth about my innocence, PUBLICLY!!! I will not accept any type of currency/goods in exchange for the attacks to stop, nor do i want it. I want my name back, period."
Dorner believed he lost his job because of racism and corruption in the police department.
On Feb. 12, he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a shootout with law enforcement at a cabin in Big Bear.
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