US police hunting ex-cop may have found his body in charred cabin

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RELATED: SWAT In Firefight With Fugitive Ex-Cop Turned Cop-Killer Christopher Dorner

A former US cop wanted for at least three murders is thought to have died at the scene of a shootout with police but his remains must still be identified, officials said Wednesday.

Police discovered human remains in the charred ruins of a cabin after a fire erupted during an intense gunbattle in the snowy mountains east of Los Angeles, where fugitive Christopher Dorner was thought to have taken refuge.

A police officer was reported killed and another wounded in the gunfight.

The Los Angeles police lifted a state of alert in the area but kept in place protective measures for police officers and families threatened by Dorner, who is accused of targeting cops in a murder spree that began six days ago.

"We do believe that it is the body of Christopher Dorner, but we don't know for a certainty," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said on CNN. "Until we do, those police officers that were targeted will continue to be protected."

The San Bernardino County sheriff's coroner said forensic means would be used to identify the remains, but it was unclear how long that might take.

"I would not make any assumptions right now," said Los Angeles police Lieutenant Andrew Neiman. "But, again, those types of identifications can be expedited in these circumstances and I'm sure that will be done."

Dorner, a disgruntled 33-year-old former policeman, went on the run last week after allegedly killing a couple and a police officer and wounding three people in a series of shootings.