Lookout Below

Bad day at the office? Probably not as bad as this man’s poor co-workers, who faced his destructive rampage. A 3-minute video of the incident is naturally making its rounds on YouTube and the Web. The video is set to Verve’s song “Bittersweet Symphony” and shows the man throwing computer monitors and whiteboards, tearing down cubicle walls, and taking a sledgehammer to the office copier.

Many have speculated the video is a fake, citing co-workers who stick around instead of fleeing the scene. There is also a video from a second angle, which seems a bit convenient. Taken from a cell phone, this video includes sound and shows a security guard using a Taser to subdue the worker. We do not hear “Don’t tase me, bro!” as the language appears to be Russian.

In 1995, a U.S. Army veteran and unemployed plumber under the influence of methamphetamine stole an M60 Patton tank from a U.S. National Guard Armory in San Diego, California and went on a rampage, destroying cars and a large RV before being shot to death by police. The week before his rampage, Shawn Nelson told a friend he was thinking of committing suicide.

At one point during the chase, the tank rolled over a fire hydrant and created a geyser. After 23 minutes on the loose, the tank stalled when it hit the concrete center divider on a freeway and got hung up. Officers scrambled on top of the tank, opened the hatch and fired their weapons. The shooting drew criticism as to why the police didn’t use tear gas to subdue the suspect. Police said that Nelson was “driving a 58-ton vehicle, aiming it at occupied cars and trucks and creating a serious threat to public safety.” The district attorney’s office ruled in 1995 that the shooting was justified.