Bulldozer rampage driver dead

An exhaust centre shop owner who ploughed his makeshift armoured bulldozer into several buildings over a dispute with city officials was found dead in the machine after a SWAT team gained access with explosives, authorities said.

The driver was identified by the town manager as shop owner Marvin Heemeyer.

A statement from Grand County Undersheriff Glen Trainor said the driver was found dead but did not give a cause.

He was armed with a .50-calibre weapon but appeared to be deliberately avoiding injuring anyone during the rampage, which began on Friday afternoon. No other injuries were reported. Grand County Emergency Management Director Jim Holaham said.

Heemeyer, who lost two bitter battles with town officials, ploughed the armour-plated bulldozer into the town hall, a former mayor’s home and at least five other buildings before the machine ground to a halt in the wreckage of a warehouse.

City officials said he was angry over a planning dispute and fines from city code violations at his business.

Authorities detonated three explosions and fired at least 200 rounds against the heavy steel plates welded to the bulldozer. The first two detonations failed the results of the third were not immediately known.

Trainor said the bulldozer’s armour plates consisted of two sheets of half-inch (1cm) steel with a layer of concrete between them.

Residents of this mountain tourist town of 2,200, about 50 miles west of Denver, described a bizarre scene as the bulldozer slowly crashed through buildings, trees and lampposts, with dozens of officers walking ahead or behind it, firing into the machine and shouting at townspeople to flee.

“It looked like a futuristic tank,” said Rod Moore, who watched the bulldozer rumble past within 15 feet of his auto garage and towing company.

Trainor was perched on top, firing shot after shot into the top and once dropping an 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.”

A flash-bang produces a blinding flash and ear-splitting boom designed to stun a suspect.

“Gunfire was just ringing out everywhere,” said Sandra Tucker, who saw the bulldozer begin the rampage from her office. “It sounded to me like an automatic rifle, firing about every second.”

Town manager Tom Hale said Heemeyer was angry after losing a planning dispute that allowed a cement plant to be built near his shop.