Armed man destroys buildings in bulldozer rampage

A businessman involved in a planning row barricaded himself inside a metal-fortified bulldozer and went on a rampage through a Colorado mountain town, firing gunshots and knocking down buildings.

Authorities had no immediate reports of injuries.

Yesterday’s 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.

“Gunfire was just ringing out everywhere,” said Sandra Tucker, who saw the start of the rampage from her office in 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 ploughing into buildings, Curran said.

Curran said the man was the owner of a car exhaust centre who had reportedly lost a planning 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 that 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. Governor 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 centre, 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 cab of the yellow bulldozer was protected with black metal plates apparently welded on over a period of weeks.

“It looked like a futuristic tank,” said Rod Moore, speaking from his garage and towing company.

He said the bulldozer rumbled past within 15 feet of his shop, with a police officer perched on top, firing shots into the top. At one point, he said the officer dropped some kind of explosive down the exhaust pipe.

“He just kept shooting,” Moore said. “The dozer was still going. He threw what looked like a flash bang down the exhaust, it didn’t do a thing.”

The scene was reminiscent of a 1998 rampage in Alma, another town in the Colorado Rockies.

Authorities said Tom Leask shot dead a man, then used a town-owned front-end loader to heavily damage the town’s post office, fire department, water department and town hall.