SAN DIEGO — On May 17, 1995, a military tank terrorized San Diego for 23 minutes.
The man inside the tank was 35-year-old Army veteran Shawn Nelson.
The rampage started when Nelson drove his Chevy van to the California National Guard armory in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood. The armory usually closed at 5 p.m., and the gates would be locked. But on that evening, the employees at the vehicle yards were working late.
After Nelson was inside the M-60 Patton Tank, Nelson barreled through streets in Kearny Mesa, smashed into cars and knocked down light poles, leaving thousands of people without power.
CBS 8 photojournalist Joe Wiedemann clearly remembered covering Nelson’s rampage that day. Wiedermann and his camera followed the tank as it barrelled down streets in Kearny Mesa.
It was a dangerous situation, and at one point, he was less than 100 yards away from the tank.
“I can think of three stories that I will never ever forget. The tank day was certainly more dangerous for me than any other story I have covered. I have never been that close to something that I had no chance of sheltering myself from,” Wiedemann said.
San Diego residents held their breath as they watched and waited for his rampage to come to an end. Nelson was the only fatality in the incident though the damage was long-lasting.
WATCH: Tank Rampage in San Diego on the CBS Evening News 1995
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET CBS 8:
ADD THE CBS8+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE Roku | Amazon Fire