Shawn nelson tank driver

While the chase was under way, leaving power outages and traffic jams in its wake, police vehicles surrounded their lumbering quarry and tried to clear a path ahead. Meanwhile, police commanders scrambled to come up with a strategy in consultation with the National Guard.

But one of the tank tracks has to be stopped and you stick the breaker bar into a cog. That only works if the tank is stopped. And you have to have the breaker bar available. Police were reviewing tactics and contingency plans Thursday in the no-longer-unimaginable event of another confrontation with a military vehicle, Saldamando said.

Detectives were also delving into the background of the dead man, described by friends and neighbors as a genial but troubled person burdened by accumulating personal and financial problems. He had become especially despondent after the theft of his plumbing tools last year. Nelson had filed two lawsuits against the hospital, according to officials there. He sued after a fight with an emergency room security guard while he was a patient in , then sued the hospital again for malpractice in The suits were consolidated and dismissed in , a spokeswoman said.

Asked whether his brother might have been headed for Sharp Memorial, Scott Nelson noted that their mother had died at the hospital three years ago. Shawn Nelson also appeared to target city property in his rampage, at one point stopping to crash repeatedly into the pillars of a pedestrian bridge. Given the nationwide attention to politically motivated violence in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, there was speculation throughout San Diego on Thursday that Nelson was impelled by some kind of grudge against the government.

He was going to sell his house for a million dollars because he had all this gold and oil in his yard. I thought he was a little odd, a little kooky, but he was a nice man and gave me a nice price. Nelson enlisted in the Army in He served in an armor battalion based in Germany and was discharged with the rank of private in , records show. Although the gate to the vehicle yard was usually locked after p. The vehicle yard was completely deserted. Nelson likely used a crowbar to break open the tank hatches [ citation needed ].

The tanks involved started with a push button and did not require an ignition key. The first two tanks he broke into would not start. As he lowered himself into the third tank, a ton M60A3 , he was finally noticed by a guardsman, who approached the tank.

Nelson started the vehicle, and with little chance of stopping him, the guardsman rushed to a phone and called police. As ammunition was kept in another building, none of the vehicle's weapons could be loaded or used by Nelson. Nelson led police on a minute, televised chase through the streets of the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego. Phillip Cady was the first police officer on the scene of the tank chase. The ton tank easily plowed through road signs, traffic lights, fire hydrants and crushed several parked vehicles including an RV.

He even attempted to knock down a bridge by running into the supports, but gave up after he failed to topple it with the first few hits. He eventually became caught on a concrete median barrier of I, as he attempted to cross into oncoming traffic.

Four police officers climbed onto the tank. The officers ordered Nelson to surrender, but he said nothing and began lurching the tank back and forth in attempt to free it from the median. The bullet entered through Nelson's shoulder. Nelson later died in the hospital. Despite the widespread property destruction, Nelson was the only fatality in the incident. Questions were raised as to whether it was necessary for the police to kill Nelson.

Police Captain Tom Hall said that if Nelson had managed to free the tank, he "could have taken out no less than 35 vehicles that were passing at that moment.

According to live news coverage at the time, officials were seriously considering asking for help from the United States Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton in the form of a Cobra attack helicopter , as the police force lacked the means for disabling a tank.

Armory security Officials at the National Guard armory where Nelson stole the tank were criticized for what appeared to be a huge lapse in security, especially after the attack in Oklahoma City the previous month.

In addition to the open, unguarded gate to the vehicle lot, the fence surrounding the lot had damaged barbed wire in some places. Residents near the armory said that even if the gate had been locked, Nelson could have simply climbed the fence in sections where the barbed wire was damaged.

Armory officials said that only a few people are given keys to the vehicles, that the vehicles were kept far away from fences to make them difficult to reach, that only someone with proper knowledge could operate and even start a tank, and that there was just no way to foresee such an event taking place. After Nelson's theft of the tank, security was tightened at the Kearny Mesa armory Now exactly two decades later, tank driver Shawn Nelson's former wife Suzy Hellman revealed to UT San Diego she blames Nelson's behavior on methamphetamine use as his life spiraled out of control.

Mark Kalish, a San Diego psychiatrist attributed Nelson's behavior to the drugs. Mark Kalish. Nelson's tragedy has often been described as a symbol of the country's economic troubles for the middle class, especially among veterans. Kalish thinks the meth, not the demise of the middle class, lead to Nelson's dangerous and erratic behavior. Feminist writer Susan Flaudi in her book Stiffed written in argued that Shawn Nelson felt betrayed by the Army and America and so he chose to fight back.

If a nation would not provide an enemy to fight, he could go to war at home. If there was no brotherhood, he would take his stand alone.

He was an intelligent man who had a great way with customers,' she said of his employment plumber after he served in the Army. Nelson went to train at Fort Knox in Kentucky. He later served in a tank battalion in West Germany. The military said that while serving in the Army Nelson had 'multifaceted' disciplinary problems. He was granted an honorable discharge in We had it made. Nelson also began taking drugs. Nelson's mother died in and his father died in causing his behavior to become increasingly impulsive.

Hellman filed for divorce from Nelson in That very same year, Nelson got into a motorcycle accident and injured his back. While being treated at Sharp Memorial Hospital Nelson tried to walk out of the facility. He later filed a malpractice lawsuit.

UT San Diego reports that by Nelson's van and work tools were stolen, his utilities were shut off because he didn't pay the bills and he was frequently high on meth and drunk off of alcohol As soon as Nelson's bank began foreclosure proceedings, Nelson dug a foot-deep shaft in his backyard and claimed to friends that he had struck gold when there was only the dirt below.

Finally after hitting rock bottom on May 17, Nelson found a way through an open gate at the armory at Mesa College Drive and stole an M He drove the tank, flattening utility poles, fire hydrants and cars before getting stuck on a road divider and later fatally shot by police. Nelson's friends say they never would have seen this coming. His luck just ran out. Always remembered the video, never knew the story. Thanks OP!

San Diego was very lucky that here was an officer who was familiar with those tanks. I remember it well. It's not a bad way to make a statement if you e decided to go. No one was killed as far as I know. Broken man becomes meth freak and rampages California town in an Army tank. Then two stills and an article and video links. There you go. Otherwise tl;dnr. Good shoot.