Some neighbors remember him as a teenager. By all accounts from the neighbors who knew him, murder suspect Christopher Dorner was a nice, helpful person.
"He was a very wonderful boy," said one neighbor.
"It was just a big shock when we heard it," said neighbor Crystal Lancaster. "We all couldn't believe it. We didn't know him that well, but he seemed like a really nice guy."
Neighbors say he hasn't lived here recently, but they do remember him growing up. They say he lived here off on, and remember him returning to stay with his mother after getting out of the military.
"He was always gentle, would say hello and just wave," said Gonzalez.
La Palma police officers say he was a young Explorer cadet with the department. They describe him as nice and personable, and say they never had any problems with him.
"I can imagine that his mother is undergoing trying times with this thing and we, all the people that live here that know him from the distance, have to feel sorry for the family, and even for him," said Gonzalez.
His mother has stayed away from the media swarming her neighborhood. Neighbors say they feel for her, and everyone who has been caught up in Dorner's alleged crime spree.
And while some neighbors say they don't see any reason for him to come back here, others say the whole string of tragedies has rattled them.
"I left all the lights on last night, my house was like the middle of the day last night. So I made sure everything was locked up and that everybody was home, and we're getting our gun today," said neighbor Maritza Manley.
Dorner's mother asked the police keep media away from her home.
