Posted on 06/04/2004 5:51:45 PM PDT by nuconvert
Armed Man in Bulldozer Goes on Rampage in Colorado Mountain Town
By P. Solomon Banda/Associated Press
Jun 4, 2004
GRANBY, Colo. (AP) - A man barricaded inside a metal-fortified bulldozer went on a rampage through this mountain town Friday, firing numerous shots and knocking down buildings as he plowed through the streets. Authorities had no immediate reports of injuries.
The siege appeared to halt when the bulldozer became stuck in the rubble of a warehouse. Authorities clambered on top of the machine, apparently trying to talk to the man inside. His condition was unknown.
The scene was chaotic as the man rumbled through Granby, about 50 miles west of Denver. Witnesses said the man fired several shots and took out trees, a light pole, a wall of the library and part of a new bank building. Grand County manager Lurlene Curran said she heard there was heavy damage to six or seven buildings, including the town hall, a newspaper office and a construction business.
"Gun fire was just ringing out everywhere," said Sandra Tucker, who saw the start of the rampage from her office on Main Street. "It sounded to me like an automatic rifle, firing about every second."
County employees moved a large piece of highway equipment in the way to try to stop the man, but he simply turned around and kept plowing into buildings, Curran said.
Curran said the man was a muffler shop owner who had reportedly lost a zoning dispute with the town.
"He evidently proceeded in destroying the properties of people involved with that," Curran said. She said she had heard the man spent two months at his shop fortifying the bulldozer with metal plating.
Bakery owner Ian Dougherty said the driver was upset a concrete plant had been built too close to his business. The driver, Dougherty added, "went out of his way" not to harm anyone.
State Patrol Maj. Jim Wolfinbarger said officers told him the driver had aimed his weapon at propane tanks. Gov. Bill Owens alerted the National Guard and was prepared to send troops to the town if requested, but local authorities had not asked for that help, Owens spokesman Dan Hopkins said.
The bulldozer also knocked out natural gas service to City Hall and a cement plant, damaging a truck and part of a utility service center, Xcel Energy spokesman Mark Stutz said.
Granby is a town of about 2,200 at nearly 8,000 feet. It is near the Winter Park ski resort and not far from the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The scene was reminiscent of a 1998 rampage in Alma, another town in the Colorado Rockies. Authorities said Tom Leask shot a man to death, then used a town-owned front-end loader to heavily damage the town's post office, fire department, water department and town hall.
But he did not have an exit strategery.
LoL
Nope, don't think he cared.
Leni
Reminds me of Carl Drega
I expect we'll see copycat bulldozer rampages.
Was this the work of the deadly semi-automatic assault dozer?
The closest we had to that here was when the crane operator left his crane to go to dinner and the clutch failed dropping the boom right through our brand-new almost complete building.
Somehow I just can't find any humor in this situation.
Anyone seen A+ ?
Give that man a Molotov cocktail!
All the Scott Peterson trial coverage drove him over the edge.
He went into withdrawal because American Idol is no longer on.
Bulldozers will do that. When controlled (and I use that term loosely) by a person.
Ping!
There's a Rachel Corey joke here somewhere...
obvioulsy we need at least a seven day waiting period on the purchase of bulldozers and need to outlaw the more damaging and dangerous 5 speed bulldozers. We need to do it FOR THE CHILDREN
So, he was a pro-zoning-law wacko.
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