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Police were on high alert throughout the region. In Torrance, two people were shot and wounded by police officers who thought the car they were driving belonged to the gunman.

The suspect was identified as Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33. Mr. Dorner had posted a rambling and threatening note on his Facebook page saying he was suffering from depression and pledging to kill police officers to avenge his dismissal for filing a false police report. Mr. Dorner said he had struggled to clear his name in court before resorting to violence.

Mr. Dorner laid out his threats in a manifesto posted on Facebook which was bristling with anger and explicit threats, naming two dozen police officers he intended to murder. The authorities responded by assigning special security details to protect the people named in the manifesto, and asked the news media not to publish their names.

Dozens of officers ringed the Police Department downtown. Electronic signs on the freeways urged drivers to look out for the suspect's vehicle, a late-model dark gray Nissan pickup truck, but not to try to approach the vehicle themselves.

"Dorner is considered to be armed and extremely dangerous," said the police chief, Charlie Beck. The police believe that Mr. Dorner has multiples weapons with him, including an assault rifle.

"Well, of course he knows what he's doing, we trained him," Chief Beck said. "He was also a member of the armed forces. It is extremely worrisome and scary, especially to the police officers involved."

In his Facebook manifesto, Mr. Dorner bragged about his abilities. "Hopefully you analyst have done your homework," he wrote. "You are aware that I have always been the top shot, highest score, an expert in rifle qualification in every unit I have been on."

"I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in the L.A.P.D. uniform whether on or off duty," he wrote.

The rampage began with a double homicide in Orange County on Sunday, in which two people were found dead in their car. One of the victims was the daughter of a former police lieutenant Mr. Dorner had named in his manifesto. The police believe that then, very early Thursday morning, Mr. Dorner shot and wounded one of the police officers guarding one of his intended victims. And later Thursday morning, the police said, Mr. Dorner ambushed two police officers waiting at a traffic light in Riverside, killing one and severely wounding the other.

"The Riverside officers were cowardly ambushed," Chief Beck said. "They had no opportunity to fight back, no pre-warning."

In the midst of the chaos, two people were shot by the police in what Chief Beck described as a case of mistaken identity after police officers thought they had spotted Mr. Dorner's car in Torrance. They opened fire; one passenger in the vehicle suffered a minor gunshot wound and the second is in stable condition in a hospital with two gunshot wounds.

"Tragically we believe this was a case of mistaken identity," Chief Beck said

The authorities were concerned that the shooter would expand his choice of targets.

"If you read his manifesto, L.A.P.D. is a very specific target but all law enforcement is targeted," Chief Beck said. "This is a vendetta against all Southern California law enforcement, and it should be seen as such."