Ex-Pantera Guitarist Among 5 Slain in Nightclub Shooting

[Lucern]

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/149...headlines=true

This is just crazy. The discrepancy in numbers of victims is from a more recent news story (or they're counting the shooter).

Dimebag Darrell, Three Others Killed In Bizarre Ohio Concert Shooting 12.09.2004 2:10 AM EST Unidentified man jumps onstage and shoots bandmembers, others. Dimebag Darrell, guitarist for Pantera and Damageplan, was one of at least four people fatally wounded during a bizarre shooting at a concert in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night. According to Columbus NBC affiliate NBC4, Dimebag — real name Darrell Abbott — was among the fatalities resulting from the incident, which occurred during a Damageplan performance at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus. Authorities did not release the names of any of the other fatalities to NBC4. Columbus police told MTV News that the gunman killed four people and wounded two before being shot and killed by a police officer. One witness told the NBC affiliate that a man jumped onto the stage during the first song of the band's set and began firing a gun. According to the witness, the man fired several shots at the band before being tackled by club security. One of the survivors is in critical condition at a local hospital, while another is in fair condition. "A Columbus police officer, when he arrived, engaged the shooter, and the shooter is also dead, and if the officer hadn't acted when he did and how he did, we'd probably be looking at more dead, because this guy was actively shooting," Sergeant Brent Mull, a public information officer, told MTV News. "We have 200-plus patrons that we have sequestered inside three city buses," Sergeant Mull explained. "We are interviewing them one by one. The ones that were inside and witnessed this ran for their lives and were in fear for their lives. They are victims too, and we want to take care of them." As news of Dimebag's bizarre and tragic demise rippled through the metal community, the news was met with shock and sadness. "I'm speechless," former Rob Zombie/ Ozzy Osbourne bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson said. "This is totally unreal. Dimebag is a [Edit] legend and this is total [Edit]." "This is insane and this is beyond travesty," Killswitch Engage frontman and former Damageplan tour partner Howard Jones said. "This is beyond anything I've ever heard. This shouldn't happen in or outside of the rock and metal community. He will be missed and mourned as a person, as a musician, and as a friend." — Robert Mancini and Ryan J. Downey

[Edit Update] The guy shot Darrel's brother, Vinny Paul, ex-drummer of Pantera too.

[ 12-09-2004, 06:09 AM: Message edited by: Lucern ]

[Ziroc]

Oh my god! This is indeed crazy. You really wonder what drives people to do things like this.

[The Hierophant]

Oh man! Dimebag was one of my teenage guitar heroes! This is $@$$#@ No way!

[ 12-09-2004, 01:17 PM: Message edited by: Ziroc ]

[philip]

really sad. And we'll never know why.

I recently read an article on how people going to clubs and parties are being checked. When I go to a dance club for school parties you'll get searched and you have to pass through metal detectors by people wearing bulletproof vests. However when I went to a concert every security I saw was just really nice and didn't do anything but say hi to everyone who came in. Makes you think what's better, but idiots shouldn't screw this up

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

Jesus that sucks! Was Vinny killed too? Or just wounded? That guy is a crazy idiot. At least he met justice!

[Lucern]

Not sure if Vinny Paul died too...but I think they would have mentioned it, because he's pretty well known too.

Pantera was one of my favorite bands as a teenager. They're talking about this more in my area I bet (and Ohio) because Pantera was from Dallas/Ft.Worth.

[Lucern]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=315390

This is a little more detailed, and makes no mention of Vinny Paul being shot. It also identifies the killer.

Gunman Kills 4 at Ohio Heavy Metal Show: Gunman Slays Four at Ohio Concert, Including Guitarist 'Dimebag' Abbott, Before Police Kill Him AP:COLUMBUS, Ohio Dec 9, 2004 — A gunman charged onstage at a nightclub and opened fire on the band and crowd, killing top heavy metal guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three other people before a police officer shot him to death, authorities said. The gunman had a hostage in a headlock and appeared to be preparing to kill him when the officer fired, police spokesman Sgt. Brent Mull said. The hostage escaped uninjured, Mull said. Two other people were hospitalized. Police said one was in intensive care and the other stable. Police identified the gunman as Nathan Gale, 25, of Marysville, 25 miles northwest of Columbus. Police said they had no information on a motive or any connection to Abbott or his band, the Texas-based group Damageplan. Damageplan had just begun its first song at Alrosa Villa club Wednesday night when the gunman climbed onstage, started yelling and shot Abbott five or six times at point-blank range, witness Chris Couch said. Mull said the gunman's exact statement was unclear because of the loud music. He said some witnesses reported hearing an accusation about Abbott breaking up his former band, thrash-rock pioneer Pantera, but it could not be confirmed whether the speaker was the gunman or a fan. Couch, 22, said the man was wearing a hooded sweat shirt and was followed by a bouncer and another club employee. Couch said that after firing on the guitarist, the gunman shot a bouncer who had pulled him off the musician, while fans surged toward the exit. The gunman then fired into the crowd of more than 250 people, Mull said. Mull said Officer James D. Niggemeyer, patrolling nearby, arrived within two minutes of hearing the call. Niggemeyer, 31, saw one person lying dead and the suspect holding onto another "pretty much in a headlock," Mull said. He said the hostage, "probably a fan, maybe someone who worked with the band," was able to maneuver out of the way before the officer fired. Mull praised Niggemeyer's response. "If the officer wasn't as close as he was, I think this would have been a lot worse," he said. "It was a chaotic scene, just a horrific scene." Besides Abbott and Gale, police said the dead included Nathan Bray, 23, and Erin Halk, 29. Police said the name of the fifth person killed was being withheld pending notification of family. Couch said he believed the shooter had a plan. "It was definitely a grudge. It was against something," he said. Mull said he believed there was amateur video that officers could view for clues but that police had no answers yet. "We may never know a motive for this, unless he left a note," Mull said. Gale has a minor police record in Marysville, said Police Chief Floyd Golden. He was pulled over for driving with a suspended license last month. Thursday morning, a dozen yellow roses, still in plastic wrap, lay near the entry to the low-slung beige building that since 1974 has hosted mostly heavy metal acts. The 641-person-capacity club, just off a freeway exit on the city's north side, sits amid motels, small businesses and office complexes. Dozens of messages were posted to the band's Web site after the shootings. "This is the worst day in metal history," one posting read. "The metal world feels your pain," another wrote. Damageplan's debut album, "New Found Power," which was released in February by Elektra, was produced by Abbott and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott. Other band members are vocalist Patrick Lachman and bassist Bob Zilla. Earlier, the brothers had been members of the Grammy-nominated Pantera, whose popularity soared in the early 1990s with a fast, aggressive sound. "Damageplan carries on the tradition Pantera started, the … hell-raising tradition we were all about," Vinnie Paul Abbott told The Dallas Morning News in October. "It took awhile for some of the Pantera fans to accept it; we knew that was gonna be the case," he said. "Change is something that people have a hard time accepting. But me and Dime intended on doing this our whole lives." The shootings came exactly 24 years after John Lennon was shot to death outside his New York apartment building by a deranged fan. Associated Press writer Jay Jorden in Dallas contributed to this report.

[Hivetyrant]

No, Vinny Paul is not dead, well at least I dont think he is.
This was however the worst thing I have seen on the news lately, it really sucks, first Pantera break up, and now Damageplan is going to have problems

[Lucern]

You're right Hivetyrant - he's fine. He did, however, see it all happen right in front of him from what I hear. His brother was shot in the back of the head from point blank range, at least from what I gather from TV news.

Gruesome...and the only 'motive' is that the guy was apparently upset at Pantera's break-up, but that's a bizarre motive. He would have taken a shot at Vinny Paul too, I think. With that motive, he would have been better off taking out Phil Anselmo anyway, because from what I hear his drug abuse was what they couldn't take anymore.

It was way too loud to hear anything from all accounts, so we'll probably not get to find out what exactly he thought he was doing.