Stand-off in bulldozer rampage

An exhaust centre shop owner who deliberately damaged buildings as he tore through town in an armoured bulldozer has been surrounded by officers determined to extricate him from the vehicle.

The man was reportedly angry over a zoning dispute , smashing buildings and firing shots as police tried to stop the slow-motion rampage.

Authorities tried blasting their way into the steel-plated cab of the machine with explosives early today after two explosions the previous night failed to penetrate the makeshift armour, said Jim Holahan, director of the Grand County Emergency Management.

It was not immediately known if the third explosion succeeded. All roads in and out of the mountain town 50 miles west of Denver were closed, the state patrol said.

Holahan would not say whether authorities knew the bulldozer driver’s condition. He was identified by the town manager as Marvin Heemeyer.

The slow-motion rampage left a trail of splintered structures in the tourist town of 2,200 people outside Rocky Mountain National Park, but there were no reports of injuries.

The driver was armed with a .50-calibre weapon, but it appeared he deliberately avoided injuring anyone, Holahan said.

The rampage began on Friday, with the driver creeping through town shooting at and destroying buildings.

“Gunfire was just ringing out everywhere,” said Sandra Tucker, who was working on Main Street at the time. “It sounded to me like an automatic rifle, firing about every second.”

At least 40 sheriff’s deputies, state patrol officers and federal park and forest rangers fired about 200 rounds at the yellow bulldozer, Holahan said.

The shots were deflected by heavy metal plates over the cab, hood and radiator, apparently welded on over a period of weeks in the driver’s shop.

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

He said the bulldozer rumbled past within 15 feet of his shop with an officer perched on top, firing shots into the top.

“He just kept shooting,” Moore said. “The dozer was still going … it didn’t do a thing.”

By late afternoon, the bulldozer had come to a stop stuck in the rubble of a metal warehouse. Officers clambered on top, apparently trying to talk to Heemeyer.

Hours later, officers still surrounded the bulldozer, and there had been no sign of movement inside, said Lurline Curran, Grand County manager.

Heemeyer was angry after losing a planning dispute over land near his shop, town manager Tom Hale said. He also had been fined $2,500 (€2,000) in a separate case for not having a septic tank and other city code violations at his business, Hale said.

Some of the wrecked buildings belonged to people involved in the disputes, Curran said. She said she had heard the man spent two months fortifying the bulldozer in his shop.

Ian Daugherty, a bakery owner, said the driver was upset that a concrete plant had been built too close to his business. The driver, Daugherty 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.

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.

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 post office, fire department, water department and town hall.

Granby is located near the Winter Park ski resort and not far from the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.