Born: 1952
Birthplace: Castlewood, SD
Died: 4-Jun-2004
Location of death: Granby, CO
Cause of death: Suicide

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Criminal

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Killdozer pilot

Military service: USAF (1969)

After years of enmity with the city council over the construction of a concrete plant near his store, Marvin Heemeyer drove an armored Komatsu D335A bulldozer through downtown Granby, Colorado, pulverizing several buildings before turning a gun on himself. After lobbying unsuccessfully against the construction of the plant, Heemeyer found his muffler shop cut off from the rest of town, his business curtailed.

Heemeyer purchased a bulldozer with the intention of building a road connecting his store to the main road, but city council members rejected his proposal. Over the next two years, he proceeded to fortify the bulldozer, armoring it with concrete sandwiched between half-inch thick steel plates. Thus enclosed, he wired an ingenious network of cameras so he could see outside on a pair of old televisions. Inside, he mounted powerful fans to blow away dust from the air slits and gun portals, and kept a stock of beverages in a cooler.

On the afternoon of 4 June 2004, Heemeyer decided to put his plan into action, and took the finished killdozer on a long, lumbering joyride through the concrete plant, the town hall, and several businesses and homes before becoming stuck in the rubble of a collapsed warehouse. By that time, the killdozer was surrounded, and a swat team was firing bullet after bullet at the hull of the beast, only to see the shots ricochet off pitifully while Heemeyer, armed with a rifle, returned fire. After a ten minute standoff, the bulldozer went silent.

Police used a series of explosive charges to pierce the killdozer's armor, to no avail. By six o'clock the next morning, workers had finally cut open a hole in the using a torch; inside, they found Heemeyer's lifeless body, dead of a single gunshot to the head. Incredibly, no one else was injured in the rampage.

Heemeyer's attack, though premeditated, apparently had nothing to do with the 1974 TV movie Killdozer, directed by Jerry London and based on a book by Theodore Sturgeon; or, for that matter, the band Killdozer.

Father: (d. 31-Mar-2004)
Brother: Ken Heemeyer
Brother: Donald Heemeyer
Girlfriend: (broken engagement)

    Road Rage
    Reckless Driving
    Shot: Self-Inflicted (4-Jun-2004)
    Risk Factors: Depression

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