Torching the cabin was wrong.

[Lurks Often]

16. The question should be did they INTENTIONALLY torch the cabin or

was that just a byproduct of the tear gas they used in what presumably was an attempt to force him out of the cabin.

Tear gas cannisters by themselves are not really an incendiary device, so one or more of them would have had to land on or near something that was more flammable then normal to trigger the fire.

There is a line between using enough force to cause an armed and dangerous fugitive to surrender, which may or may not result in the injury or death of the fugitive and just outright killing him. It is unlikely that we will ever know if law enforcement crossed that line.

I did not follow the cabin stand off especially closely, but I don't remember seeing anything where law enforcement made any attempt to negotiate.

Note this is not an attempt to defend a murderer, but concern about whether law enforcement had any intention of taking the murderer alive and deliberately ignored options that MIGHT have led to Dorner surrendering.