GRANBY, Colo. — Marvin Heemeyer, a 52-year-old muffler-shop owner, drove an armored bulldozer into town, plowing over buildings, running over police vehicles, firing rounds and leaving behind a path of destruction.
If this sounds like a scene from a "Mad Max" movie — it's not.
This was the actual scene in the small mountain town of Granby on June 4, 2004 — 15 years ago today — when the town's general quiet was suddenly interrupted by a rampage that Colorado -- and the country -- would not soon forget.
VIDEO: The video below shows 9NEWS' morning newscast from the next day, June 5, 2004, after the rampage was over.
Heemeyer, reportedly upset over a zoning dispute between himself and the town council, spent 1.5 years modifying the bulldozer, including adding armor plating to make the machine resistant to explosives and small arms fire.
His rampage started when he drove it through the wall of the town concrete plant, then Town Hall, the office of the local newspaper, the home of Thelma Thompson (whose late husband had served as the town mayor) and other buildings.
He also attempted to run over two state troopers and exchanged gunfire with police during the rampage. The bulldozer finally stopped while trying to plow through a hardware store.
When the dust had settled more than two hours later, 13 buildings had been damaged or destroyed. Many of the buildings appeared to be targeted based on Heemeyer's dispute with the town council.
Authorities eventually used explosive charges and a cutting torch to get inside the vehicle's bulletproof cab, where they -- on June 5 at around 2 a.m. -- found Heemeyer dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Miraculously, no one was injured during the rampage.
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