Man On Armored Bulldozer Crashing Into Granby Buildings
Town Evacuated; Highways Closed
POSTED: 3:30 pm MDT June 4, 2004UPDATED: 4:37 pm MDT June 4, 2004
A bizarre situation developed in the small mountain town of Granby, Colo. Friday afternoon, where a heavily-armed man was knocking down buildings with an armor-plated bulldozer.According to witnesses, the man first ran the bulldozer through the library and town hall, which are in one building and also smashed through the Sky-Hi newspaper office, demolishing it.
There are unconfirmed reports the bulldozer driver is armed with a large-caliber automatic weapon. Officers said the weapon being used by the man was the size of a 50-caliber machine gun.
The Colorado State Patrol closed U.S. Highways 34 and 40 around Granby. The mountain town is located at the intersection of the two highways.
Several eyewitnesses told 7NEWS that the scene in the downtown area is chaotic and numerous law enforcement officers were in the area, shooting at the bulldozer.
The bulldozer driver also ran through the cement plant and local Xcel Energy building, and over at least one police car, according to witnesses. He then headed west out of town, pursued by law enforcement vehicles.
A short time later, he turned around drove back into town and at 4:30 pm. was attempting to knock down the Gambles Department Store. The store has a large basement and the bulldozer may be immobilized in the building. That's where a SWAT team was moving in at 4:30 p.m.
The bulldozer was heavily fortified, with steel plates welded onto it and also had areas for the driver to shoot out of. One witness described some areas on the bulldozer as "gun turrets."
The Grand County Road and Bridge Department moved a large piece of equipment into the path of the bulldozer in an effort to block it.
"The piece of equipment is so big it's hard to stop," said Lurlene Curran, the Grand County manager. "We're doing everything we can to stop this chaos."
"He has systematically severely damaged the town of Granby," said Curran.
The rampage began around 3:20 p.m.
Some residents in the small community were evacuated from the area for their safety.
The identity of the bulldozer driver was not immediately known. The bulldozer is said to be D-5 Caterpillar.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/3383547/detail.html
Rampage in Granby
By Associated Press
June 4, 2004GRANBY, Colo. - An armed man barricaded inside a fortified bulldozer went on a rampage Friday, firing shots and knocking down buildings as he plowed down the streets of this Colorado town.
It was not immediately known whether anyone had been injured.
"He's got gun turrets, he's even got the tracks covered up," witness Scott Schaffer told KUSA-TV. Another resident, Judy Craig, told the station she heard heavy damage was done to the town library and city hall.
Gov. Bill Owens alerted the National Guard and was prepared to send troops to Granby if requested, but local authorities had not asked for that help, Owens spokesman Dan Hopkins said.
William Hertel, owner of High Altitude Audio, said a man he did not know drove by his business in the bulldozer at mid-afternoon. He said the machine took out a wall of the library and part of a new bank building.
He took out the trees and light pole in front of Hertel's Main Street business as he drove back and forth through the town.
"I was up on the roof when he came by. I got down and got my wife and kids out of the back of the building," Hertel told The Associated Press. He said he had heard numerous gun shots.
Lurlene Curran, the Grand County manager, said to her knowledge no one had been hurt. She said at least five buildings had been damaged.
"The piece of equipment is so big it's hard to stop," she said. "We're doing everything we can to stop this chaos."
Granby, a town of about 2,200 at nearly 8,000 feet, is about 50 miles west of Denver. Jefferson County officials said their SWAT team had been called in to help.
The bulldozer knocked out natural gas service to City Hall and a cement plant, Xcel Energy spokesman Mark Stutz. He said one truck and a wall of the utility's service center had been damaged.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2939053,00.html
Reported about 25% of town destroyed. Dozer ran over cop car. Dozer is stopped. Unknown about fate of driver.
Everybody keeps saying this is a guy. Could be a bad case of PMS.
I have visions of neighbors watching this "person" welding shields to his buldozer and asking what's up? With a reply of "I'm on a mission from God."