Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer Christopher Dorner.(AFP Photo / Robyn Beck)

Former LAPD officer and murder suspect Christopher Dorner has reportedly been involved in a gunfight with authorities near Big Bear, California, and is barricaded in a cabin in a wooded area around 80 miles from Los Angeles.

Editor’s note: a live stream of the situation can be seen here via CBS.

According to preliminary reports, police are on the hunt for Dorner through the woods of Big Bear. CNN claims that at least two officers have been shot, but the conditions and whereabouts of all persons involved have not been formally confirmed, nor has the cause of the alleged attack. KTLV claims one deputy has been airlifted to a hospital and area schools have been placed on lockdown as a precaution. A local CBS station says the LAPD has dispatched armored vehicles and a bunker buster SWAT team to aid with the manhunt, and flight restrictions have been imposed in the area. As the search intensifies, authorities have asked the media to discontinue their live aerial broadcast.

Dorner, a former cop and Navy reservist who has been at-large since last week, has been named a suspect in three murders in Southern California. Authorities have formally charged him with one of the crimes.

Dorner has been untraceable in the days since the crimes, and a manifesto attributed to him that was published online has helped garner international intrigue about the case. On Tuesday afternoon, however, reports developed that suggested Dorner has surfaced and was back on the run.

According to an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles, a man matching Mr. Dorner’s description entered a mountainside cabin in Big Bear and took a two people hostage. The LAPD says that the suspect tied up the couple and then fled the scene in one of the victim’s vehicles, which could be linked to a nearby reckless driving accident. The Los Angeles Times was the first outlet to rehash the case on Tuesday, reporting that afternoon that Mr. Dorner engaged in a firefight with authorities. A law enforcement source speaking to the paper confirmed the news on condition of anonymity, and CNN independently verified that claim shortly after 1 p.m. local time.

Source: RT