San Bernardino Sheriff John McMahon on Wednesday denied that California police had intentionally set a cabin on fire with fugitive ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner inside.

“I can tell you that it was not on purpose, we did not intentionally burn down that cabin to get Mr. Dorner out,” he said at a press conference. “The tear gas canisters that we used — first off we used a presence when we showed up, a cold tear gas, then the next tear gas was pyrotechnic, which does generate a lot of heat. We introduced those canisters into the residence and a fire arose.”

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Police scanners captured officers saying “fucking burn this motherfucker” and “we’re gonna go forward with the plan, with — with the burn” on Tuesday as they engaged the quadruple murder suspect.

McMahon said the charred remains found in the Big Bear cabin had not yet been confirmed to be Dorner, but the manhunt had been called off.

“I cannot absolutely, positively confirm it’s him. The suspect that we were following and also had stolen the vehicle matched his description. His behavior based on our deputies interaction with him inside the cabin was consistent with Mr. Dorner’s activities prior to, and we are not currently involved in a manhunt any longer. Our coroner’s division is working on trying to confirm the identity through forensics.”

The manhunt for Dorner was launched after the ex-cop declared “war” on the LAPD and their families, killing a young couple and two police officers before fleeing to the ski resorts of Big Bear. Jeremiah MacKay, a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy, was also killed after suffering multiple gunshot wounds on Tuesday.

Watch video, uploaded to YouTube by the Associated Press, below: