GRANBY, Colo. – A muffler shop owner reportedly angry at local government over a zoning dispute tore through town Friday in an armored bulldozer, smashing buildings and firing shots as police tried to stop the slow-motion rampage.
The siege left a trail of splintered structures in this tourist town, but there were no reports of injuries.
Authorities were trying to blast their way into the steel-plated cab of the machine with explosives late Friday, Grand County Emergency Management director Jim Holihan said. At least one explosion was heard, but it was not immediately clear whether it penetrated the machine’s makeshift armor.
The cab of the yellow bulldozer was protected with black metal plates apparently welded on over a period of weeks in the muffler shop.
The driver, Marvin Heemeyer, was angry after losing a zoning dispute over land near his shop, town manager Tom Hale said.
Granby is a town of about 2,200 at nearly 8,000 feet elevation. It is near the Winter Park ski resort and not far from the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.
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