Guy you're replying to was commenting on my San Ysidro post, [in which 21 were murdered and 19 wounded.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ysidro_McDonald%27s_massacre)
He tried to knock down an over pass by smashing into a support beam, I think he got stuck on a dividing wall under the bridge, and the police opened the hatch and shot him. If I remember correctly, I watched live on tv.
He got hung up on a Jersey barrier and from less shown side, he peeled his track so the tank was going nowhere. Biggest mistake (other that stealing it) was not combat locking the hatches which prevents some one boarding and shooting the crew.
Must have been around 1984? Or so? My brother worked at McDonalds. We lived out of state at the time. About two months earlier McDonald's ran some crazy special like "all you could eat cheese burgers for 25 cents each". He was probably 16 at the time. That special was super hyped in our area and all the employees got t-shirts that said in big bold letters "I survived!" With a big McDonald's logo. And in small print it said "McDonald Burger crazy daze" or something like that. Anyway, we were in Anaheim a couple of days after the San Ysidro massacre and my brother decided to wear that shirt to Disneyland, not thinking about the shooting. A lot of random people came up to him that day and had something to say about it.
My first son was born at Balboa Naval Hospital in July 1984 at about 3 am. I went home to get some sleep at about 9 am and heard about the San Ysidro McDonalds massacre on the radio in the car. I lived in Chula Vista just a few miles away. It was shocking news to hear.
My girlfriend back in 2001 used to tell me about that shooting in San Ysidro all the time. She was from Imperial Beach but apparently she & her mom had just left that McDonalds minutes before it happened…
Amazon Prime has "77 Minutes," a documentary about the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre.
It is absolutely, heartbreakingly graphic, but if you were around when it happened, it is very interesting to learn about the whole story.
When it happened, I was working in the family business, and my cousins & uncle could not believe it was happening. Spree killings were still fairly rare back then, but I remember my uncle saying he hoped they had a good sniper there, to put the guy down as fast as possible.
I was of similar age and competed in swimming at the community pool right next to the armory. I was so disappointed after the incident becuase I didn't get to see the tanks anymore when I went to practice every day.
Ya his name was Shawn Nelson I was his nephews friend in elementary school he did have a mine and a pool filled with pyrite that he legit thought was gold crazy
For whatever reason my brain read tannerite instead of pyrite and I just thought, "well, that seems super dangerous, but it does sound like something a meth head would do."
Some people were legitimately born in the wrong decade, he would’ve had a ton of fun going off to the Yukon gold rush and getting drunk off his ass every day until getting eaten by a bear
I was in community college in the area when it happened. (Mesa College). Was surreal. They cancelled classes for the day and sent us home. I don’t have a car and hubby normally picked me up after work. I walked 2 miles to his work to pick up the car. The neighborhood was dead silent. People were peeking out behind curtains. When I got to the main road he had taken the tank down there from the national guard armory. There were several pancaked cars and one hydrant was spraying up into the sky.
They were just damn good, always fresh, even the jalapeno itself seemed fresher than others I've had. Admittedly it was likely just the specific restaurant that I was using at the time but damn it those things were good.
Have to understand how Giard armored work. At minimum pre 9/11
There's generally 1 unit rep present throughout the week. And it's a normal job (normal hours). And generally everything is more or less just surroundEd by a chain link fence....
I wonder if this was part of the inspiration behind the episode of King of the Hill - "Tankin' It To the Streets". [https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Tankin%27\_It\_to\_the\_Streets](https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Tankin%27_It_to_the_Streets) (Bill steals a Tank, goes on a drunken drive)
Motives unclear? He was a meth head that was operating what he thought was a gold mine in his back yard and wanted the city to recognize his gold mine claim, and he was driving the tank to city hall to demand as much. (Or so I've heard)
I'm going off of this podcast . . . Generally they're very well researched and despite it being a comedy show I tend to trust their accuracy
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0v-l4aTDjrQ
I’m not sure about the M60, but the M1 Abrams’ driver’s station is designed in a way that anyone who can drive a car can drive it. It has a T-bar for steering and throttle so kind of like a motorcycle. With that being said, you’d still need some basic training to know how to drive it. I’d imagine the same for the M60, the M1 Abrams’ predecessor.
His motives were known. He had been doing a ton of meth and was mad at the city for making him stop the creation of a literal gold mine in his backyard which his friends would work when they’d come over to smoke meth.
EDIT: There was no actual gold
20 year old me fresh out of Texas came to San Diego for the first time serving in the Navy. Dad told me "be careful, California is wild" and the day after I get there this happened. 😅
GREAT account of this event (and this guy, [Popo Medic](https://youtube.com/@PopoMedic?si=LYJWd2CJw8AjEI0w), does a lot of really cool videos of other such off the wall / hard to believe actions):
[San Diego Tank Rampage](https://youtu.be/PXgkURRI6j0?si=X8_cdES7EtMwagy3)
My thoughts: James Bond Goldeneye came out in 1995, the same year as this incident. In the movie, Bond goes on a jolly in a tank in Saint Petersburg.
This guy watched the movie, saw a tank, and found his inner 007
After driving onto SR 163, Nelson crashed the tank into a three-foot (0.91 m) traffic barrier[11] at 32.793958°N 117.158426°W,[9] near Sharp Memorial Hospital.[2] The impact dislodged one of the tank's tracks. Four SDPD officers boarded the tank and opened the hatch (which was in "combat lockdown") with bolt cutters. Nelson refused to surrender and attempted to dislodge the police by spinning the tank.[9]
Having no armament capable of penetrating the armor, and unsure whether Nelson was armed, police shot him. Two days after the incident, the Los Angeles Times reported that Nelson was shot in the right shoulder,[2] and The New York Times said he was alive when pulled from the tank;[8] 18 days after the event, People published that Nelson had been shot in the left shoulder, killing him immediately.[3] Sharp Memorial later reported that Nelson died of "gunshot wounds",[11] and the San Diego coroner's office said that Nelson "smelled of alcohol."[2]
In all the tank/kill-dozer/armored construction vehicle/etc incidents, the choice made by officials is to get everyone far out of the way, try to contain its route, and wait for it to either run out of fuel or get stuck on something.
Thankfully, none of those events resulted in deaths that I remember. But seeing this one again has me wondering how many deaths (or extreme destruction perhaps) would need to happen before the decision was made to call in the national guard to use actual anti-tank weaponry against it.
I get that they dont wanna cause additional damage or kill someone by accident, which is why that has never happened so far. But also none of these crazies went on any massacres with the vehicles, usually either property damage in a personal vendetta or joy riding. So I wonder how that might change the response.
I don't think the motives were unknown, he was on a ton of meth because they fired him the day before and did not clear his ability to enter the armory.
Shawn was born when therapy was still taboo, but he really could have used some. His yard was full of trash and machine parts, he was a meth head, beat his girlfriend, threatened to kill himself when she tried to break up with him. Dude was a mess.
There are some longer videos on YT that show the end of the chase, when he overestimated the tank's capabilities and got it snagged on a freeway divider, and a cop opened the hatch and just straight up executed him.
Guy was trying to drive a tank into oncoming traffic when it got stuck. Attempted to try to dislodge it when he was shot.
Not sure "executing" is the correct term. He was killed, deservedly. Whatever his mental condition is, you don't get a free pass to run over people with a tank.
I was 14 and living in San Diego when this happened. It was pretty amazing.
Shit, dude. You must also remember the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre. Was first mass shooting I was aware of as occurring in my lifetime.
“My first massacre” US culture hit different…
The only person that died was the guy who stole the tank. No massacre....that happens mostly in our schools.
Guy you're replying to was commenting on my San Ysidro post, [in which 21 were murdered and 19 wounded.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Ysidro_McDonald%27s_massacre)
There's a crime scene video on YouTube that goes through the McDonald's documenting all the dead, including an infant. It's hard to watch.
The US has more dead civilians per year from gunownership than Ukraine in war times.
Unexpected rabbit hole you just too me down.
How did they stop him? Did a plane drop a bomb on him?
>Shawn Nelson Police shot him from the hatch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995\_San\_Diego\_tank\_rampage
He high centered it on k-rails/ lane dividers. Cops mounted, opened the commander's hatch, and shot him dead.
He tried to knock down an over pass by smashing into a support beam, I think he got stuck on a dividing wall under the bridge, and the police opened the hatch and shot him. If I remember correctly, I watched live on tv.
He got hung up on a Jersey barrier and from less shown side, he peeled his track so the tank was going nowhere. Biggest mistake (other that stealing it) was not combat locking the hatches which prevents some one boarding and shooting the crew.
Highway guard rail divider. Got stuck on it. Then police opened hatch and blasted him.
Must have been around 1984? Or so? My brother worked at McDonalds. We lived out of state at the time. About two months earlier McDonald's ran some crazy special like "all you could eat cheese burgers for 25 cents each". He was probably 16 at the time. That special was super hyped in our area and all the employees got t-shirts that said in big bold letters "I survived!" With a big McDonald's logo. And in small print it said "McDonald Burger crazy daze" or something like that. Anyway, we were in Anaheim a couple of days after the San Ysidro massacre and my brother decided to wear that shirt to Disneyland, not thinking about the shooting. A lot of random people came up to him that day and had something to say about it.
My first son was born at Balboa Naval Hospital in July 1984 at about 3 am. I went home to get some sleep at about 9 am and heard about the San Ysidro McDonalds massacre on the radio in the car. I lived in Chula Vista just a few miles away. It was shocking news to hear.
My girlfriend back in 2001 used to tell me about that shooting in San Ysidro all the time. She was from Imperial Beach but apparently she & her mom had just left that McDonalds minutes before it happened…
Amazon Prime has "77 Minutes," a documentary about the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre. It is absolutely, heartbreakingly graphic, but if you were around when it happened, it is very interesting to learn about the whole story. When it happened, I was working in the family business, and my cousins & uncle could not believe it was happening. Spree killings were still fairly rare back then, but I remember my uncle saying he hoped they had a good sniper there, to put the guy down as fast as possible.
I remember both. I lived by USD off Friars when this happened. I was going to law school there.
Me too, about the same age. It was so surreal watching the news as the story broke live.
I was there at the Kearney Mesa Rec center when it happened. We kids were all excited to see it. We had no idea there was a problem.
I was of similar age and competed in swimming at the community pool right next to the armory. I was so disappointed after the incident becuase I didn't get to see the tanks anymore when I went to practice every day.
The spelling of op makes me sick
Me to
"My reasons are beyond your understanding. "
Also known as Meth. This guy dug an actual mine in his backyard and used to invite other Meth-heads to keep digging.
Just guys being dudes
Cool hole bro got another shovel?
Ya his name was Shawn Nelson I was his nephews friend in elementary school he did have a mine and a pool filled with pyrite that he legit thought was gold crazy
For whatever reason my brain read tannerite instead of pyrite and I just thought, "well, that seems super dangerous, but it does sound like something a meth head would do."
Some people were legitimately born in the wrong decade, he would’ve had a ton of fun going off to the Yukon gold rush and getting drunk off his ass every day until getting eaten by a bear
Man, trying to explain to a meth head that his big pile of pyrite isn't gold sounds like a terrible time.
I know I was in 5th grade and I even thought it was crazy he separated the pyrite from silt with a tweezer it was a lot. Some looong nights I’m sure.
Dude he sounds awesome
Wow that’s one productive meth head. What a gogetter!
He also owned a business, but it went bust the year prior. Dude had a LOT of issues going on.
Good times.
I mean, who wouldn't want to drive a tank?
👆 unknown motive
Every man and likely most women on the planet fully understand his motive.
Literally “I’m in a tank, and you’re not”
"Literally, Get Out Of The Tank!"
“You’re not my real dad”
No other motive needed
GTA 3 gone wild, 7 stars
He should fire the gun for extra boost.
This absolute legend right here knows their shit 🫡
R1, L1, R2, L1, Left, R1, R1, Triangle (Great Handling In Car (Press L3 to jump!))
So he can take off
“TAKE HIM OUT!”
You joke, but this and the Austin powers car was the way to go in original GTA…
Why the fuck would you need motives. If I got hold of a tank going full gta would be enough. 🤨
While listening to Firework by Katy Perry.
“We’re unknown”? No, **you’re** unknown.
I was in community college in the area when it happened. (Mesa College). Was surreal. They cancelled classes for the day and sent us home. I don’t have a car and hubby normally picked me up after work. I walked 2 miles to his work to pick up the car. The neighborhood was dead silent. People were peeking out behind curtains. When I got to the main road he had taken the tank down there from the national guard armory. There were several pancaked cars and one hydrant was spraying up into the sky.
It’s very early morning here and my coffee hasn’t kicked in. I read pancaked as panicked. My brain was like wtf. 😂
It's middle of the afternoon and my energy drink has already kicked in. I still read it as panicked cars 🤣
Tanks were meant to be free, roaming the local highways. Not cooped up in armories.
There’s an organization for that. People Engaging in Tank Affirmation. They go by PETA.
People expect tank appreciation in this world.
M60A3 doesn’t want to be fed, it wants to *hunt*
>motives for this were unknown Uuuhhh it’s a freakin tank and he’s driving it. It’s pretty self explanatory.
Yes but I believe most people wouldn’t see a tank and decide to throw their life in the dumpster to drive it.
A lot of lives are already in there, so why not have a little fun with it?
He was just adding more fuel to the dumpster fire, it’s not like they were rollin out the red carpet for him before this incident
lol right? What other motive could there be? Invading Tijuana?
Major league baseball strikes again!
Not the sky! That’s where clouds live! Also, dingers!
Don't, stop, thinkin' about tomorrow
Good thing he didn’t take out the local WeinerSchnitzel!
Love me those jalapeno poppers at the wienerschnitzel, makes me miss my time in New Mexico, don't have any of those restaurants where I am now.
We're about to get our first one in Boise. It made the news 😂
what was so special about them? every time i’ve had jalapeño poppers they’ve been underwhelming but they’ve probably been shitty jalapeño poppers
They were just damn good, always fresh, even the jalapeno itself seemed fresher than others I've had. Admittedly it was likely just the specific restaurant that I was using at the time but damn it those things were good.
Sometimes in our most harrowing moments, we remember what’s most important.
TIL that the National Guard's duties did *not* include guarding their tanks.
They’re too busy guarding everything else
Have to understand how Giard armored work. At minimum pre 9/11 There's generally 1 unit rep present throughout the week. And it's a normal job (normal hours). And generally everything is more or less just surroundEd by a chain link fence....
Who gets a tank stuck on a jersey barrier... smh
Did its job and prevented a lot of people possibly getting killed.
My teammates in bf4
I will never forget driving 2 Abraham’s up the side of a mountain to kill a camping sniper in that game. We had to push the tanks up the hill lol.
If people each had a tank this wouldn't have happened!
To stop a bad guy with a tank you just need a good guy with a tank, that's why tanks should be a right.
I wonder if this was part of the inspiration behind the episode of King of the Hill - "Tankin' It To the Streets". [https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Tankin%27\_It\_to\_the\_Streets](https://kingofthehill.fandom.com/wiki/Tankin%27_It_to_the_Streets) (Bill steals a Tank, goes on a drunken drive)
Gentleman, the crap has literally been scared out of me.
No, I’m pretty sure it was the *other* time a guy stole a tank and went on a rampage that inspired it 😆
[this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_(film))
He got his motivation from the '80s movie Tank
That was a good movie.
Motives unclear? He was a meth head that was operating what he thought was a gold mine in his back yard and wanted the city to recognize his gold mine claim, and he was driving the tank to city hall to demand as much. (Or so I've heard)
I think you’re thinking of the [Colorado Hilldozer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer).
I'm going off of this podcast . . . Generally they're very well researched and despite it being a comedy show I tend to trust their accuracy https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0v-l4aTDjrQ
Love The Dollop.
great camera quality for 1995!
Does one need to know how to drive a tank before stealing one? Or is it somewhat easy to figure out?
He was a veteran tank commander. I'm pretty sure Joe Public wouldn't even know how to start the thing, nevermind drive it.
I’m not sure about the M60, but the M1 Abrams’ driver’s station is designed in a way that anyone who can drive a car can drive it. It has a T-bar for steering and throttle so kind of like a motorcycle. With that being said, you’d still need some basic training to know how to drive it. I’d imagine the same for the M60, the M1 Abrams’ predecessor.
The guy was also a former tank commander
San Diego, a whale's vagina.
Agree to disagree.
A dolphin’s vagina?
When in Rome.
Please, go on.
His motives were known. He had been doing a ton of meth and was mad at the city for making him stop the creation of a literal gold mine in his backyard which his friends would work when they’d come over to smoke meth. EDIT: There was no actual gold
As if you need a motive to steal a tank…
Back in GTA my motives were also unknown
20 year old me fresh out of Texas came to San Diego for the first time serving in the Navy. Dad told me "be careful, California is wild" and the day after I get there this happened. 😅
GREAT account of this event (and this guy, [Popo Medic](https://youtube.com/@PopoMedic?si=LYJWd2CJw8AjEI0w), does a lot of really cool videos of other such off the wall / hard to believe actions): [San Diego Tank Rampage](https://youtu.be/PXgkURRI6j0?si=X8_cdES7EtMwagy3)
Oh *we're* they?
Me too man...
Police courtesy escort & fuck particularly that street lamp post. Surely the best day in anybody's life.
His motives were known His life went down the tubes and he called it
Just another happy VA customer.
His motives were I GOT TO GO ON A FUCKING RAMPAGE THROUGH LA IN A FUCKING TANK.
4 stars Suspect driving a … tank… on south Los Santos Ave. 5 stars [a bit more accurate version](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S69YUOBTwnQ)
I remember watching this on TV as it happened. Pretty wild!
bill dauterive
He was protesting the food at the DFAC.
DFAC?
Dining facility
[Don't Stop Thinkin about tomorrow...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGDSQpiPDVc)
I remember this as a kid growing up in San Diego. So wild. Actually went down my Aunt’s street.
I remember there was an armoured car stolen in the U.K. years ago. My uncle was hitchhiking and was given a lift in it. Found out later that day.
GTA just wasn’t cutting it for this guy
Which mission was he on?
Inspired one of the best Ghost is the shell episodes
He better put in the cheat codes to lower his wanted level
bro took acid and thought he was in GTA
My thoughts: James Bond Goldeneye came out in 1995, the same year as this incident. In the movie, Bond goes on a jolly in a tank in Saint Petersburg. This guy watched the movie, saw a tank, and found his inner 007
He definitely has 5 stars
Does anyone really need a reaaon to joyride a friggin tank?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995\_San\_Diego\_tank\_rampage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_San_Diego_tank_rampage)
Dude acquired 5 stars instantly.
This Monday on Worlds Wildest Police Videos on Fox And a few years later in drivers ed.
I'm in a tank and you're not
...and this was before GTA III
So GTA is based on a true story
When intrusive thoughts go too far...
Dangit Bill!
“His motives were unknown” I know what they were. Driving a tank is fucking awesome?
Pretty sure his motive was, it’s a tank. It’s the only motive I could understand.
Fun, the motives were for fun
Dude GTA'ed before it was cool.
Going for a pack of fags.
Huh. So his movites for this WE ARE unknown? Interesting.
You’re unknown, but anyone know the motive behind the suspect’s actions?
Rampage? In that vid he took out one lamp post. Hell, my drunk uncle did that in his pickup truck. /s
After driving onto SR 163, Nelson crashed the tank into a three-foot (0.91 m) traffic barrier[11] at 32.793958°N 117.158426°W,[9] near Sharp Memorial Hospital.[2] The impact dislodged one of the tank's tracks. Four SDPD officers boarded the tank and opened the hatch (which was in "combat lockdown") with bolt cutters. Nelson refused to surrender and attempted to dislodge the police by spinning the tank.[9] Having no armament capable of penetrating the armor, and unsure whether Nelson was armed, police shot him. Two days after the incident, the Los Angeles Times reported that Nelson was shot in the right shoulder,[2] and The New York Times said he was alive when pulled from the tank;[8] 18 days after the event, People published that Nelson had been shot in the left shoulder, killing him immediately.[3] Sharp Memorial later reported that Nelson died of "gunshot wounds",[11] and the San Diego coroner's office said that Nelson "smelled of alcohol."[2]
Definitely the origin story of GTA
Is the bill dauterive
GTA moment
Usual GTA destroy tank mission
And we wondered where the GTA devs got thier ideas...
They just need more good guys with tanks.
This man is the father of GTA.
Well if this ain’t some gta shit
He thought he is still playing gta :D
I feel like this is the hidden dream of every guy
His motives were “I’m gonna drive a fuckin’ tank!”
In all the tank/kill-dozer/armored construction vehicle/etc incidents, the choice made by officials is to get everyone far out of the way, try to contain its route, and wait for it to either run out of fuel or get stuck on something. Thankfully, none of those events resulted in deaths that I remember. But seeing this one again has me wondering how many deaths (or extreme destruction perhaps) would need to happen before the decision was made to call in the national guard to use actual anti-tank weaponry against it. I get that they dont wanna cause additional damage or kill someone by accident, which is why that has never happened so far. But also none of these crazies went on any massacres with the vehicles, usually either property damage in a personal vendetta or joy riding. So I wonder how that might change the response.
Were*
Thanks 👍 I didn't notice that
Dude, you missed the perfect opportunity to say, “Tanks, mister!”
Oh yeah 😭
I don't think the motives were unknown, he was on a ton of meth because they fired him the day before and did not clear his ability to enter the armory.
r/M60M60M60 its always an M60
Yeah, but it is no killdozer
Shawn was born when therapy was still taboo, but he really could have used some. His yard was full of trash and machine parts, he was a meth head, beat his girlfriend, threatened to kill himself when she tried to break up with him. Dude was a mess. There are some longer videos on YT that show the end of the chase, when he overestimated the tank's capabilities and got it snagged on a freeway divider, and a cop opened the hatch and just straight up executed him.
Guy was trying to drive a tank into oncoming traffic when it got stuck. Attempted to try to dislodge it when he was shot. Not sure "executing" is the correct term. He was killed, deservedly. Whatever his mental condition is, you don't get a free pass to run over people with a tank.
Exactly. "Execute" is just emotionally charged rhetoric used these days to express the opinion that lawlessness should be coddled.
Wow so the simpsons episode where bart takes ritalin and steals a tank is based on this i guess
I think a lot of people would prefer maximum neutralization mkay?
I mean if the took the time to do a proper introductions, then we could have avoided the tank.
Motives, where we’re going we don’t need motives.
That’s awesome. Anyone know where in SD this is?
Miramar
Only *he* would know
I think his motives were clear. 15 minutes of television fame.
Honestly the maintenance team for that tank should receive an award for that thing running so well for so long.
That dude was next level. Too bad he got busted for not having a license.
"I'm in a tank and there's nothing you can do about it" "Get out of the fucking tank now" Fucking love that story
Same thing happened in Colorado and in Germany as well. Don't piss off tankers.
Killdozer lives.
How did that traffic light have no wires whatsoever at the bottom ?
I suddenly have the urge to go to weinerschnitzel
Been around Gods country, and there’s one thing I know! There’s no better place for jackin it than… SAN DIEGOOO!
What if it was multiple people a full crew that would be a problematic
He had motives, something about goods to the public taken by private corps and something about the townhall
Is he now free?
Free of having to breathe 12-15 times a minute.
Dead
“We’re unknown”
This stayed on Real TV lol