Shawn Nelson

Shawn Timothy Nelson (1960 – May 17 1995) was a U.S. Army veteran and unemployed plumber who, at the age of 35 and under the influence of methamphetamine, stole an M60 Patton tank from a United States National Guard Armory in San Diego, California and went on a rampage on May 17, 1995, destroying cars, fire hydrants, and even an RV before being shot dead by police. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1DD1639F93AA25756C0A963958260 Man Killed After Stealing Tank for Rampage] from "The New York Times"]

Problems begin

Nelson was hospitalized in 1990 for neck and back injuries from a motorcycle accident. He sued the hospital for USD$1.5 million citing negligence, assault, battery and false imprisonment. A superior court judge dismissed the case, and the hospital counter-sued for $6,640 in medical fees and legal expenses. Nelson claimed that he was forced to be treated without his consent.

After divorcing his wife of six years in 1991, and losing both his parents to cancer, Nelson started to lose control. According to his brother, Scott, Shawn started abusing drugs in 1993, and his life took a drastic change. Neighbors started reporting loud shouting arguments between Nelson and his roommate, calling the police on several occasions. As time went on Nelson started to exhibit very strange behavior. In particular, he dug a hole convert|15|ft|m deep in his backyard in an attempt to mine for gold and other minerals. In February 1995, he filed a notice informing the county of his plans to mine bedrock in his backyard, even though he was not required to because his backyard was private property. Nelson's fishing friend, Carson Honings, referred to the mine shaft as an eccentric, but not obsessive, "new hobby." In April of the same year, he filed two damage claims against the city totaling $2,000,000. One of them was for police negligence, and the other for false arrest.

Nelson's neck and back problems, in addition to his plumbing equipment being stolen from his truck, effectively halted his business. With no income, his utilities had been cut off and his house was in foreclosure. In April 1995, his live-in girlfriend died. He used methamphetamine to fight his pains and abused alcohol because of the depression. His brother, Scott, said of him, "My brother was a good man. He'd help anybody. He just couldn't help himself."

Tank rampage

According to San Diego police, the week before his tank rampage Nelson told a friend that he was thinking of committing suicide, and the following weekend, told a friend that "Oklahoma was good stuff," in apparent reference to the Oklahoma City bombing. Whether Nelson condoned the attack or simply meant that he enjoyed the drama is not clear. Police did not believe Nelson had any connection with the bombing or with a terrorist group.

At dusk of Wednesday, May 17, 1995, Nelson drove his Chevrolet van to the National Guard Armory in Kearny Mesa. Although the gate to the vehicle yard was usually locked after 5:00 p.m., employees at the armory were working late, and left the gate open. The vehicle yard was completely deserted. Nelson likely used a crowbar to break open the tank hatch. The first tank he broke into would not start, and neither would the second. As Nelson lowered himself into the third tank, a 57-ton M-60 Patton, he was finally noticed by a Guardsman, who approached the tank. Nelson managed to start the vehicle, and with little chance of stopping him, the Guardsman rushed to a phone and called police. Ammunition was kept in another building, so the vehicle's weapons were not loaded.

Nelson led police on a 23-minute, televised chase through the streets of the Clairemont neighborhood in San Diego, California. The tank had a top speed of convert|45|mph, making the chase slow compared to police chases involving automobiles, but it was no less dangerous. The 57-ton tank easily plowed through road signs, traffic lights, and, in what's probably the most famous image of the chase, crushed a van up against an RV, and then plowed straight through the RV, before getting caught on a concrete median of State Route 163, as he attempted to cross the median into the oncoming traffic. He even attempted to take down a bridge, but got impatient and gave up after he failed to topple it with the first few hits. Four police officers climbed onto the tank. San Diego Police Officer Paul Paxton, a Gunnery Sergeant at the time with Alpha Company, 4th Tank Battalion, a locally based Marine Corps Reserve unit, was able to open the hatch, gaining access to the turret. 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. Officer Paxton's partner, Richard Piner, shot and killed Nelson.

Police action

Questions were raised as to whether or not it was necessary for the police to kill Nelson. Scott Nelson himself said police were just doing their job when they shot his brother. Police Captain Tom Hall said that if Nelson managed to free the tank, he "could have taken out no less than 35 vehicles that were passing at that moment." Additionally, police decided that if non-lethal action such as tear-gas was used, this might have stopped Nelson but not the tank, and officers would not be able to enter the tank if it were still moving and with tear-gas present. What is generally ignored is that one of the tank's treads had come off while the tank was poised on the median, an occurrence that effectively immobilized the tank. This is called "throwing a track," a term that described exactly what happened to the tank. Any military official who was contacted about the emergency situation would immediately have known that after the track was "thrown," it was immobile and thus out of service. The videos of the police response and actions clearly show the track spinning off the tank and landing on the ground, that there was no further danger of the tank continuing its rampage. Police officials called military personnel and discussed ways of stopping the tank, including using another tank, but all options were considered impractical. Fact|date=December 2007

News coverage

Station KGTV/Channel 10 broadcast footage of Nelson's shirtless, bloodied body being pulled from the tank by police both live and during the eleven o'clock news (it was this image that made Scott Nelson realize his brother was the one driving the tank). KGTV was the only station decided to air this footage. While some people questioned whether it was necessary or appropriate for KGTV to show such images, KGTV then-news director Jeff Klotzman said, "We felt it was a critical part of the story. We warned our viewers three different times (before airing the footage) that it was graphic and it was." Dick Tuininga, news director of KUSI/Channel 51, supported Klotzman's decision, even though his own news program decided not to air the footage. There is also commonly screened footage that is often used in documentaries that shows paramedics and police officers carrying Nelson's shirtless body to an ambulance on a stretcher, one paramedic holds up a blood plasma bag while a head brace and some other protective equipment cover Nelson's head, and a bandage is on his chest. They then load him into the ambulance.

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 on April 19 of that year. 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 was 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. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE1D61339F932A15756C0A963958260 Theft of Tank Raises Questions About the Security at Armories] from "The New York Times"]

Legacy

*A documentary film was made that was based on the incident, called "Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story". [imdb title|id=0317273|title=Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story]

*Nelson was memorialized by rock musician Mojo Nixon in his song "Tankman Blues" from his 1999 album "The Real Sock Ray Blue".

ee also

* Marvin Heemeyer, who destroyed 13 buildings with an armored bulldozer in 2004.

External links

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=3vESIVemfG8 YouTube video] of a segment detailing the incident with the tank.

References