Pantera Guitarist dead, and more people also... :(

PeaceEleven · Post by **PeaceEleven** » 12/9/2004, 7:46 am

COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNN) -- A gunman stormed the stage during a heavy metal concert in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night, firing at the band and audience and killing four people before a police officer shot and killed him, according to police.

One of the dead was guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. The gunman also wounded two people.

The man was "targeting members in the band," Columbus police Sgt. Brent Mull said.

Before the gunman was shot, police said, he grabbed a hostage and fired into the crowd. It was not clear what happened to the hostage.

The attack came shortly after the band, Damageplan, began its performance at the Alrosa Villa nightclub on Columbus' north end.

One of the wounded is in critical condition, and the other is hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Two others were injured in the incident and treated at the scene, although the nature of their injuries was not clear.

According to witnesses, the gunman initially shot the band's guitarist, Dimebag Darrell.

Darrell, 38, and his brother, Vinnie Paul, 40, formed Damageplan after Pantera -- a group they formed in the 1980s -- broke up last year. Their father is Jerry Abbott, a country and western songwriter and producer.

Police were notified of the shooting around 10:18 p.m., Mull said. A uniformed police officer who was near the scene slipped into the venue from a back entrance, confronted the gunman during the rampage and killed him.

"If not for the officer who showed up, there would have been more dead," Mull said.

Witnesses described the shooter as a heavyset man, wearing a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey jersey.

Police roped off a huge area of the nightclub's parking lot, as 60 detectives questioned hundreds of witnesses. Police brought in buses to keep the witnesses warm as they waited to be questioned.

Calvin Bota said he saw the shooting from the mosh pit right in front of the stage, shortly after the band began playing.

"Somebody came -- I don't know where they came from, out of the audience or whatnot -- but they come onto (the) stage and ... he shot the guitarist at first, fired a couple of other shots and then he hid behind the stage a little bit," Bota told CNN affiliate WSYX.

"Everybody started scattering, you know, there's mayhem everywhere. And then a police officer came into the building, you know, came in professional with his gun raised and then he proceeded to shoot the guy."

Gerald Caudill said the gunman shot the guitarist at least four times.

"I was up close to the stage and I just saw some guy run up on the side of the stage and I heard some shots and I saw (drummer) Vinnie (Paul) fall and somebody jumped on top of Vinnie, and the guy just stayed around the stage and started shooting other people," Caudill said.

"I saw wounded people all over the place, out in the parking lot, inside," he said. "It just didn't sound like gunshots or anything, it didn't occur to me that something like that was happening."

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 12/9/2004, 8:19 am

Yeah, someone put a link to a story about this on the hub. I've never been a Pantera fan, but this is so sad. :cry:

Not to mention scary. I've heard horror stories about razor blades and such at concerts, but never guns. Let alone someone jumping on stage and opening fire.

God. What is wrong with the world today? :neutral:

neoncrossing · Post by **neoncrossing** » 12/9/2004, 9:25 am

that is messed up

happening fish · Post by **happening fish** » 12/9/2004, 10:56 am

Holy hell

Clumsy_Birdman · Post by **Clumsy_Birdman** » 12/9/2004, 2:20 pm

R.I.P. Darrell Abbot... a rock legend to be remembered

i hate the way he died. i hate it so much...

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 12/9/2004, 4:14 pm

I wish there was some kind of explanation. Since the lunitic's dead, we'll never find out why he did it.

closeyoureyes · Post by **closeyoureyes** » 12/9/2004, 5:51 pm

Yeah I heard about this. My friend luke is a diehard pantera fan, he was bawling his eyes out.
:crying:

Dr. Hobo · Post by **Dr. Hobo** » 12/9/2004, 6:16 pm

nikki,
reena goes to that place all the time
its scary heh
and yeah that guy was just a fuckwad

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 12/10/2004, 11:03 am

Oh my god. She must be really freaked out. :neutral:

megxyz128 · Post by **megxyz128** » 12/10/2004, 11:11 am

i've read from someone who was there that when he got up on stage he was yelling stuff about dimebag breaking up pantera and it's his fault and phil (anselmo, pantera lead singer) needs drug money, blah blah. so in conclusion, he was crazy.

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 12/10/2004, 11:25 am

That's so sad.

luckyJQ9 · Post by **luckyJQ9** » 12/10/2004, 2:27 pm

I read in an article today that people who knew the guy who did it said he was obsessed with Pantera. One of them said that he came over his house once and told him he had written all these lyrics, and then when the guy looked at them they were just a bunch of Pantera lyrics. And then the guy freaked out and said that Pantera stole the lyrics from him and that he was going to take them to court and sue him, yada yada, basically they said that he was a lunatic who was obsessed with Pantera and VERY mentally instable.

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 12/10/2004, 3:23 pm

My question is... why didn't someone take him to a shrink or something before this happened? :neutral:

PeaceEleven · Post by **PeaceEleven** » 12/11/2004, 2:53 pm

things like this are very sad. I hope such things won't hapenned again!

Lando · Post by **Lando** » 12/11/2004, 4:55 pm

Here's an article I received in an e-mail. It releases the name of the shooter and other victims.

Published: December 09, 2004 11:15 AM
Former Pantera (bio | books - CDs | rarities) guitarist Darrell Abbott--a.k.a. "Dimebag" Darrell--was shot and killed while performing on stage with his current band, Damageplan (bio | books - CDs | rarities), when a gunman opened fire in a Columbus, OH, club on Wednesday night (12/8).
At a press conference on Thursday (12/9), Columbus Police Sgt. Brent Mull said that, according to witness accounts, Abbott and his bandmates--drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott (Darrell's brother and ex-Pantera bandmate), vocalist Patrick Lachman and bassist Bob "Bob Zilla" Kakaha--had just begun performing shortly after 10 p.m. at the nightclub Alrosa Villa when a gunman jumped on stage and fired multiple shots at close range toward Abbott, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The alleged shooter--identified as Nathan Hale, 25, of Marysville, OH--also allegedly shot and killed three other victims, including an audience member identified as Nathan Bray, 23; U.S. Marine Corps veteran Erin Halk, 29, who was working at the show; and Texas resident Jeff Thompson, 40.

Earlier unconfirmed reports of an additional band member among the dead proved false.

Mull said that 911 calls began pouring in at 10:18 p.m., and that Officer James D. Niggemeyer was on scene by 10:20 p.m. When Niggemeyer arrived and entered the club, Hale allegedly had a hostage in a headlock, had fired into the crowd, and appeared ready to shoot the hostage. The officer subsequently shot and killed Gale.

Two other victims were transported by ambulance to a local hospital. Their identities and conditions weren't released.

According to Mull, homicide investigators were reviewing amateur video footage that was filmed during the incident.

Mull said police didn't know why the shooting took place.

"We may never know the motive for this," he said. "Unless [Hale] left a note, we may never know.

Darrell Abbott, 38, emerged in the early '90s as one of metal's premiere guitarists while part of Texas rock outfit Pantera. Following that band's demise last year, the Abbott brothers formed Damageplan, which released its debut set, "New Found Power," in February. The group was planning to head into the studio to record a follow-up set when their current tour ended, according to an audio message from Vinnie Paul Abbott that was posted at the band's website.

Soozy · Post by **Soozy** » 12/11/2004, 6:00 pm

I read earlier that Jeff Thompson was their ex-security guy and the 2 people who were injured were their tour manager and their drum tech

It's so sad

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 12/12/2004, 1:40 am

Oh man, someone was bootlegging. This horror is on tape. :neutral: