Marvin Heemeyer - Wikipedia
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On this date in 2004, Marvin Heemeyer used a bulldozer he modified himself to enact a rampage of revenge against the town of Granby, Colorado, for what he saw as extortionate requirements to improve a piece of property he had bought, followed by the approval of construction for a concrete plant adjacent to the property. The destruction ended with his death by suicide after the Killdozer began to break down.

The bulldozer was a modified Komatsu D355A, which he referred to as the “MK Tank” (or “Marv’s Komatsu Tank”) in audio recordings, fitted with makeshift composite armor plating covering the cabin, engine, and parts of the tracks. Three external explosions and more than 200 rounds of ammunition fired at the bulldozer had no effect on it.

  • potoooooooo 🥔@lemmy.worldEnglish
    281·
    23 days ago

    At the risk of taking away the wrong lesson: the man certainly knew how to modify the hell out of a bulldozer.

  • Whirlygirl9@kbin.earth
    10·
    23 days ago

    I lived in Colorado when this happened. It got stuck in the basement of one of the buildings he was ramming the thing into. He lowered that cement cap down on top of the bulldozer. He knew he wasn’t coming out of that thing. The air is thinner in those mountain towns.

  • qwestjest78@lemmy.caEnglish
    101·
    23 days ago

    What is interesting to read is that they had a helicopter with a missle that could have stopped him, but realized the damage from a missle would have been far greater than what he could do in a less that 10km/hr bulldozer.

    So they just followed him around and let him have his tantrum like a child until he inevitably got himself stuck. I doubt you would see that kind of restraint today in the US.