Marvin Heemeyer and the Bulldozer of Doom.In 1992 Marvin Heemeyer bought 2 acres of forclosed land f
Marvin Heemeyer and the Bulldozer of Doom.In 1992 Marvin Heemeyer bought 2 acres of forclosed land for about $40,000. He moved onto the land and built a muffler repair shop. Later he agreed to sell the land to the Docheff family for $250,000, who wanted the land to build a concrete plant. However the deal fell through when Heemeyer continually raised the price, finally asking for the rediculous sum of $1 million.Instead the Docheff’s bought an adjacent tract of land and used their influence to have the land rezoned to allow construction of the plant. However the plant blocked access to Heemeyer’s muffler shop. Heemeyer petitioned the zoning board, filed lawsuits, and appealed but with no success. In addition the City of Granby fined him $2,500 because his building had no sewer access. Heemeyer sought to cross over the Docheff’s property to access the sewer lines, but the Docheff’s would not grant permission. With no other options Heemeyer would have no choice to close his shop.But then something in Heemeyer snapped. He sold his shop and used the proceeds to purchase a Komatsu D355A bulldozer. Over the next year he outfitted the dozer with 12 inch armor comprised of concrete sandwitched between layers of steel. The armor covered almost all of dozer including the cabin, engine, and tracks. Heemeyer used video cameras, reinforced with bullet resistant materials and connected to monitors in order to navigate. The dozer was also outfitted with an air conditioner for life support and a firing port with two rifles installed.On June 4th, 2004 Marvin Heemeyer fired up his “Killdozer” and immediatly demolished his former business. He then went on a rampage demolishing the concrete plant, houses of zoning board members, houses of city councilmen, city hall, the local newspaper (they ran negetive reports on him) as well as others he had a beef with. Police and National Guard fired 3 explosives and 200 rounds from small arms with no effect. When local sheriffs deputies tried to climb on to his behemoth, Hemeeyer sprayed oil over his dozer to prevent anyone from mounting it. Heemeyer continued his reign of destruction, demolishing more buildings and destroying propane tanks with his rifles.Then his Killdozer broke down. SWAT teams immediatly surrounded the vehicle, and Heemeyer committed suicide with a .357 revolver. In the two hour rampage 13 buildings had been destroyed causing $7 million in damages. Today Marvin Heemeyer is remembered as a hero by some and a villain by others. The Killdozer has been dismantled, but no one in Granby will forget what happended that fateful day. -- source link
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