Man takes stolen tank on rampage through San Diego streets: a look back
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — It’s been 29 years since a 57-ton tank from a San Diego National Guard armory was destructively steered through the streets of San Diego.
According to FOX 5/KUSI’s reporting partners at The San Diego Union-Tribune, on May 17, 1995, a man from Clairemont set out on a fateful journey that would end in his death.
His name was Shawn Nelson and he reportedly worked as a plumber. Reports described the man’s behavior prior to the incident as increasingly strange.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, Nelson enlisted in the Army after high school, later serving as tank battalion in West Germany. That was until “multifaceted disciplinary problems” led to an honorable discharge in 1980.
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That was just a precursor to a trail of life events that would lead to his chaotic quest in an armored vehicle through a figurative war zone in San Diego.
Nelson’s ex-wife told the The San Diego Union-Tribune that he began acting erratically around the time his mother died in 1988. His father’s death followed just four years later.
During that period, she said he started to abuse amphetamines and alcohol, which led her to file for divorce in 1990. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Nelson had a severe motorcycle accident that same year, leaving him with back and neck trauma.
A series of unfortunate events continued for Nelson, with reports noting home foreclosure proceedings were filed in 1995.
Then rampage day occurred.
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A gate was reportedly open at a National Guard armory on Mesa College Drive. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, it was then that Nelson entered and started up an M-60 battle tank.
The discharged servicemember took the tank on a rampage through the streets of Kearny Mesa, smashing cars and tearing down telephone poles. The path of destruction was caught on video by many, with the CBS evening news of 1995 detailing the berserk event on television.
Local authorities trailed Nelson, with some eventually climbing atop the tank and pulling the hatch to demand he stop, as reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune. When he refused, Nelson was shot once.
Despite immediate response from paramedics, the gunshot wound proved to be fatal and Nelson was pronounced dead.
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