Updated 3:34 p.m.
The search for alleged cop killer Christopher Jordan Dorner at Big Bear was to be suspended at nightfall, San Bernardino County sheriff's officials said Saturday afternoon.
Several additional patrol units assisted in the search for the former Los Angeles police officer accused of killing three people -- one of them a Riverside police officer.
There were some 50 law enforcement officers searching the forest and going door to door, a San Bernardino County sheriff's spokesperson said.
Two helicopters were also doing aerial sweeps of the area, searching for any sign of the former officer, who claims he was mistreated and unfairly fired while at LAPD.
The search will resume again in the morning, if necessary, SBCSD spokesperson Cynthia Bachman said.
Updated 2:38 p.m. Feb. 9, 2013.
CNN has reported that police believe Dorner may have as many as 30 weapons with him now. Other weapons were burned inside the truck as it was set on fire at about 8:20 a.m. Thursday.
CBS and CNN both quoted inside sources, and reported that an arsenal of weaponry and survival gear was found inside the burned-out pickup truck that Christopher Jordan Dorner apparently torched near the Big Bear Ski Area on Thursday morning.
At San Ysidro early today, only two traffic lanes were open on southbound Interstate 5 at the Mexican border. Federal agents would not confirm that a dragnet was in effect, but officers wearing body armor and cradling rifles were photographed watching traffic heading through the unusual two-lane bottleneck at the Mexican border.
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The search resumed Saturday for a former Los Angeles police officer and alleged cop killer who is blamed for three deaths in a spree that authorities said they believe may not be over.
More than 100 heavily-armed law enforcement officers took part in the search Friday for Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, a Navy reservist fired by the LAPD who is believed to be armed with assault weapons.
Dorner sued the LAPD in 2011 for what he said was his unfair firing.
He is suspected of killing a Riverside police officer Thursday morning, and a college basketball coach from Walnut and her fiance in Irvine Sunday.
The rogue officer posted a "manifesto" online, stating that he was "off the grid," and warning law enforcement officers not to try to capture him if they spotted him.
"If you proceed with a traffic stop or attempt to notify other officers of my location or for backup you will not live to see the medal of valor you were hoping to receive for your actions," the post states.
The search at Big Bear was suspended at nightfall and began again about 7 a.m., Saturday, officials said.
"Search personnel will again utilize the snow cat and the armored personnel carrier to transport them into mountain areas where they will continue searching the forest," San Bernardino sheriff's information officer Jodi Miller said.
The mountainous region in San Bernardino County became a focus of the manhunt one day after his pickup truck was found burning just off a forest road in the area around 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
According to San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon, deputies and police officers used police dogs and specialized equipment such as Snowcats, snowmobiles and armored personnel carriers equipped with chains to help them navigate the snow-covered terrain.
Sheriff’s officials said the search would continue until Dorner was located or evidence was found indicating he was no longer in the Big Bear area.
Since the shooting of two Riverside police officers -- one of them fatally -- Thursday morning, there has been no sign of the suspect.
Deputies checked the last of roughly 400 vacation homes in the Big Bear area on Friday night for signs of forced entry, according to Cindy Bachman of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
The resorts at Big Bear have reopened.
Officials said some tracks were found during the initial search, but investigators determined they did not belong to Dorner.
Meanwhile, authorities searched Dorner’s mother’s home in La Palma, where Dorner was believed to have either been staying or recently visited prior to the outbreak of violence. There was no word on what investigators found at the home.
The ongoing search continued to leave law enforcement authorities on edge. The Twin Towers jail complex in downtown Los Angeles was locked down briefly Friday morning when a worker reported seeing “an individual outside that resembled suspect Dorner,” sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
Nearby streets were blocked off, but there was no sign of the suspect.
Some media outlets reported that Dorner’s ex-wife works at the Twin Towers jail.
Tips about possible Dorner sightings continue to pour in but have so far proved unfounded, including one that resulted in the search of an Amtrak train, police said.
The LAPD remains on modified tactical alert, which extends some officers’ shifts. The department has been on either full or modified tactical alert nearly continuously since Thursday.
In other areas of the Southland, police were also maintaining security details aimed at protecting colleagues named as targets in the manifesto.
Dorner—a former U.S. Navy reservist whose last known address was in the 4900 block of Sharon Drive in La Palma—is black, 6 feet tall and weighs 270 pounds.
Anyone encountering him should consider him “armed and extremely dangerous” and should not approach or try contacting him but instead call 911 immediately, police said.
A tip line has been established, 949-724-7192. People can also call Riverside police at 951-787-7911.
