( CNN ) -- When former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner went on a vengeful killing spree this month , one couple found themselves under the protection of the same officers with whom they serve . Phil and Emada Tingirides , a captain and sergeant in the LAPD , respectively , experienced moments of fear that stretched into days of uncertainty after Dorner killed four people and wounded three others as part of a vendetta against his former comrades . Phil Tingirides was on the disciplinary board that terminated Dorner 's employment with the police department in 2008 , and was considered a primary target of Dorner 's because his name appeared on a manifesto written by the renegade cop . Opinion : In rampages , it 's about revenge . In the document , which announced his planned rampage , Dorner said nothing had changed in the LAPD since its scandals of the 1990s , the Rodney King beating and the Rampart police corruption case . The Tingirides were among some 50 families that were placed under police protection because they were named as targets of Dorner 's rage . Phil Tingirides had never met Dorner before his disciplinary hearing years ago , and never spoke to him afterward . What a surprise for him , then , to be dragged into an unfolding nightmare this month . `` Never , ever did I think someone would go to this extent in their rage over the discipline that was handed down to them , '' he said at a news conference Tuesday . The call informing him that he was a potential target came on a Wednesday afternoon . The first thing he did was call his wife and children and get them all back to his house . `` We hear threats all the time , but rarely so specifically , and that someone has already carried out in the most cowardly way , '' he said . The couple has six kids in a blended family , ranging from 10 to 24 years in age . The biggest challenge was protecting the young ones from what they heard on television and social media about the manhunt for Dorner , Emada Tingirides said . `` We shut the TV off after the first day , '' she said . What killed Dorner . Under police protection in their own home , the parents tried to explain to the younger children what was going on , all while seeing `` their fear growing , '' Phil Tingirides said . The parents never broke down in front of their kids , Emada Tingirides said , but the couple would sometimes sneak into the garage and cry . With television news ruled out , the family spent their time watching other channels and playing board games . Quality time , it turns out . `` We found that it brought our family closer together , '' Phil Tingirides said . The manhunt ended last week when Dorner was cornered and died in the San Bernardino Mountains , about 100 miles east of the city he had once sworn to protect and serve . The 33-year-old former Navy officer holed up in a cabin after a shootout with law enforcement that left a sheriff 's deputy dead and another wounded , McMahon said . The cabin caught fire when police shot tear gas canisters into it . On Tuesday , Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said the department would review Dorner 's firing and all the claims made in his manifesto . The chief says the review is an act of transparency , to reassure the public that the department polices itself . Beck also said a process is underway to determine how much reward money may be paid out , and to whom . Authorities to decide fate of Dorner reward money .
Some 50 families had to be protected during the manhunt for Christopher Dorner . One couple talks about being named in Dorner 's manifesto and how they coped . (Published Tuesday, June 12, 2013)