On December 8, 2004, while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, DimeBag Darrel Darrell Abbott was shot and killed onstage by Nathan Gale. Abbott was shot a total of four times, twice at point blank range in the head. He was 38 years old.
Three others were killed in the shooting: concert attendee Nathan Bray, 23, of Columbus; club employee Erin Halk, 29, of northwest Columbus; and Damageplan security guard Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, 40, of Texas. The band's drum technician, John "Kat" Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were injured.
According to police, Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, taking the time to reload once, remaining silent throughout the shooting. When security staff and audience members climbed the stage to try to stop him, Gale fired at them, killing Thompson and Halk, who had attempted to stop the gunman with a wooden table, and wounding Paluska. Gale then took Brooks hostage, holding him in a headlock position after the technician attempted to wrestle him to the ground. When the hostage moved slightly, Columbus police officer James D. Niggemeyer, who was the first Officer to arrive at the scene, shot Gale in the face with a 12 gauge police issue shotgun.
During the rampage, nurse and audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went to the aid of Abbott. She and another fan administered CPR until paramedics arrived. According to some reports, victim Nathan Bray was also attempting to render assistance when he was killed.
DimeBag Darrel Darrell was buried at the Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas.
Due to insufficient seating, several members of Darrell's family were escorted out of the funeral services by security in order to make room for "distinguished guests." Later on during the services, other family members walked out due to the extreme profanity and other vulgarities by some of the speakers.
Some months before his murder, Darrell had found out from one of his industry contacts that Eddie Van Halen and Charvel guitars were going to produce a limited-edition series of guitars bearing Van Halen's trademark tape-striping. Van Halen himself would be individually taping each guitar and they would also come with a picture of him doing so and a certificate of authenticity. According to Eddie, Darrell called him on the phone and asked if he could purchase one before they became available. Eddie replied that the next time he saw Darrell, he would have one of the guitars with him and would stripe it in Darrell's presence as a gift. Before they could meet again, Darrell was murdered. Eddie recounted this story when he spoke at Darrell's funeral, then, to the surprise of those in attendance, he brought out the black and yellow tape-striped guitar seen on the back cover of Van Halen ii (which Darrell had said was his favorite guitar of Eddie's) and laid it in Darrell's casket to be buried with him.
The shootings had occurred on the 24th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon (who himself was murdered by a crazed fan), but there is no indication that this was a factor in Gale's actions.
in May 2005, Officer Niggemeyer testified before the Franklin County grand jury, which is routine procedure in Franklin County after a police shooting. The grand jury did not indict Niggemeyer.
Niggemeyer received a commendation from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission for his outstanding police work in time of crisis.
Early theories of motive suggested that Gale may have acted based on the Pantera breakup, or a public dispute between Abbott and Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, but these have now been ruled out by investigators. Another theory is that Gale believed that Abbott had stolen a song that Gale had written. [2]
Abbott's family has now decided to sue the night club where he was murdered. They claim that if the club had employed competent security guards, this death would have never occurred. The club owner states that his security guards are not trained nor were ever intended to thwart gun wielding guests. The news of this lawsuit comes within days of the anniversary of Abbott's murder.
