This is topic Guitar legend "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott Killed in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-09-2004, 09:38 AM:
 
I just can't believe some of the shit that happens these days. I woke up this morning to hear about a concert shooting in Ohio.

Pantera was one of my favorite 90's hard rock bands, mainly because of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. His talent and blinding precision made him one of the absolute top metal guitarists of the 1990's. His ferocious playing ability was well demonstrated on songs like "Cowboys from Hell" and "Walk." I also liked Pantera because the Dallas-based band was from my region of the country and had played here in Lawton numerous times in their early days.

Lots of Pantera fans were disappointed by the breakup of the band last year. Dimebag Darrell and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul started the band Damageplan. Their first CD "New Found Power" was released earlier this year. The first single "Save Me" has been played heavily on rock stations around the country. A bit of the song can be heard on promos for the movie "Flight of the Phoenix." It seemed as if the Abbott brothers were going to write a new chapter in hard rock greatness. But now all of that is changed, thanks to some selfish, homocidal asshole.

Investigators are still trying to figure out all of the details of this incident. The only question I want answered is "why?" But we'll probably never know that. Police officers made their way into the club from the back entrance to confront the shooter. They were forced to kill the assailant since he was still trying to kill other people. Witnesses say the shooter intentionally targeted Dimebag Darrell first, walking onto the stage and shooting the guitarist numerous times at point blank range. The shooter then started shooting randomly into the crowd. News reports also say drummer Vinnie Paul was also shot, but no word has been given on his condition.

It's really kind of strange that something like this would happen on the anniversary of John Lennon's death.
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 12-09-2004, 10:13 AM:
 
Here are some of the details released so far.

The shooting was at a small club called the Alrosa Villa, a club that has been known as a home for metal music for many years. The events happened shortly after 10:00pm EST.

Reports so far say that Nathan Gale, 25 from Marysville (about 20 miles NW of town) jumped on the stage and shot 4-times point-blank at Darrell Abbott. Abbott was declared dead at the scene. The gunman then started shooting at the rest of the band and into the audience.

Many 911 calls were placed from the club. The first officer on the scene shot the gunman before anyone else was hurt.

5 are dead, including Gale. There is no report yet on how many were hurt, but there were numerous injuries.

Gale walked into the club, went directly to the stage and began shooting. No explanations yet.

This could have been a really bad situation, as this is a fairly small club. This guy could have shot up a LOT of people. Glad that police officer got there so quickly.

One victim remains to be identified.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 12-09-2004, 10:15 AM:
 
From CNN

On Thursday, police identified the suspect as Nathan Gale of nearby Marysville. A spokesman said police had no information about a motive or possible link to the band.

"Right now we don't see any connection at all, but that could change," Columbus police Sgt. Brent Mull said. "Unless he left a note or there's something else, we may never know the motive."

At least two people also were wounded in the attack, which occurred shortly after Damageplan began its performance at the Alrosa Villa nightclub on Columbus' north side.

James Niggemeyer of the Columbus police was nearby and responded to a call about the shooting. He slipped in a back door, and someone directed him to the stage, Mull said.

"We got the call about 10:18, and by 10:20 he was in there," Mull said, adding that "it was probably less than a minute before he engaged" the suspect, who was holding a hostage.

"The officer was able to strategically gun this guy down before he was able to kill his hostage," Mull said. "It appeared he was about to kill his hostage before this officer put an end to it."

Mull said the hostage was unharmed and that Niggemeyer's action saved lives.

"The officer ran in without any backup ... obviously put himself at risk," he said. "The community has a real hero here."

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

Pantera's third release, "Far Beyond Driven," debuted at No. 1 in 1994. The band was nominated for Grammys in 1995 and 2001.

The band dissolved at the end of a tour last year -- amid much speculation on fan Web sites that the split was not amicable. The two brothers, however, played down any bitterness during an April 1 interview with CNN.

"It just kind of got narrow-minded, and we just wanted to bust it open a little bit more and just broaden it up, go for the Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors instead of the one, you know what I mean?" Darrell Abbott said.

Vinnie Paul Abbott said: "We had 13 years of really, really good success. And basically the singer wanted to move on, do some other things and really lost his focus."
At least 1 audience member among deaths

At least one of those killed Wednesday night -- Nathan Bray, 23 -- was a member of the audience. Mull identified another deceased victim as Erin Halk, 29, although it was unclear if he was a concertgoer or an employee.

Mull did not identify the remaining fatality. Abbott was the only band member confirmed dead "at this point," he said.

One of the wounded is in critical condition, the other hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Two others were hurt and treated at the scene, although the nature of their injuries was unclear.

Mull said homicide detectives are checking possible amateur video shot inside the club during the shooting but said they weren't sure if the footage would be useful.
story.response.jpg
Police block the entrance to the nightclub after the shooting Wednesday night.


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.

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

Calvin Bota said he saw the shooting from the mosh pit 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."

Mull said Columbus police have responded to previous incidents at the club, including several he characterized as minor as well as a shooting in the parking lot. He said he was unaware of the club's security practices, except that it had no surveillance camera or metal detector.

"They are in charge of their own security inside," he said. "There are times they hire off-duty Columbus police for parking lot security -- we are prohibited by law from working inside a liquor establishment -- but last night there were none."

[ 12-09-2004, 04:35 PM: Message edited by: Joe Redifer ]
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 12-09-2004, 11:19 AM:
 
were was security in all this kaos.
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 12-09-2004, 12:19 PM:
 
Apparently, the shooter just came in the door, went right to the stage and started firing. Security is private, as there are rules about off-duty officers providing security where liquor is served. (Ohio is one of those strange states with very restrictive laws. Some are outright stupid, IMHO.)

There is an amateur videotape that is being studied to find out what happened.

People are driving by the club leaving flowers and other items as a memorial.

This club has been around for a long time, and they know how to handle trouble. I think this guy just moved in too fast to stop.

There is also a report that the shooter was holding a hostage when the officer came in, and the hostage leaned back to allow a clear shot.
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-09-2004, 01:02 PM:
 
I was unable to sleep all night long. Around 2 am is when I decided to log on line and check the news. That's when I read the news about dimebag.

I too am a 80's metal throwback kid. Headbanger all the way. Pantera was and will always be one of the greats, and they didn't have to come from Great Britan to sound good either. These guys were home grown.

I do feel a sadness in my heart today. In my life I have come across some great people that have lost thier lives for pointless reasons. This is just another example of stupidity and selfishness taking the life of someone just trying to share thier talent with the rest of the world.

I too wish I could know why, but also, I am also very glad this prick that killed him and those three others is dead. In the days to come, I am sure that we will get to know the other three people he killed, and the great hole that they will leave in our society.

Tragedy knows no limits or bounds. Stupidity rides along as always.

Ciao baby, rock forever...

with humility

Dave
 

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Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 12-09-2004, 05:56 PM:
 
And Great White's time in the concert hazard spotlight passes...
 

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Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 12-09-2004, 09:09 PM:
 
Any possible coincidence that this happened on the 24th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon?

-Aaron
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 12-09-2004, 10:30 PM:
 
Some updated information:

No other band members were killed, but injuries aren't know yet. In addition to Dimebag Abbott and the shooter, 2 fans died along with a 40-year old gentleman from Texas who may have been with the band in some capacity, but that isn't known yet.

And, here's a surprise! The gunman was described by neighbors as a loner who was friendly and good to his mother. He was an ex-Marine with an obsession with Pantera. There are some reports that he was shouting about the breakup of Pantera as he was shooting.

The officer who shot the gunman is still pretty shaken-up, as would be expected. He was let into the club by a back entrance by security. An off-duty officer from an out of town force distracted the shooter while the officer took aim.

Sad...very sad.
 

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Posted by Emma Tomiak (Member # 1862) on 12-09-2004, 11:15 PM:
 
This really sucks. I'd met Dimebag on a couple of occasions, and he was really awesome. He liked to joke around, and he really loved his music. RIP, dude.
 

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Posted by Tony Hall (Member # 2490) on 12-10-2004, 02:10 AM:
 
This has been a big event at my theatre considering we have staff that used to party with them. Seeing them come to our movie theatre on occasion, a few of the staff did not know much or anything about Pantera but knew who they were when they came in.
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 12-10-2004, 09:28 AM:
 
Latest word is that the shooter was angry at the breakup of Pantera. Reports say he was shouting "You broke up Pantera" while shooting.

Friends of his said he had been acting strangely lately, and told people that Pantera had stolen his songs.
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 12-10-2004, 11:29 AM:
 
This sucks! It really makes you think about people who are in the spotlight... there's always plenty of crazies out there who develop an obsession with killing you for some reason.

I also thought about the connection to John Lennon's assasination. I think it's just a day the shooter wanted to associate it with, like the Columbine kids did with Hitler's birthday.

Thinking back to the concerts in recent memory, I never recall walking through a metal detector. They only checked for cameras and any outside food/drink.

IMHO, it should be the other way around. They should ALLOW cameras in case something like this happens. In this case, the "ameture video" could be the only clue as to what exactly happened. (In the Great White concert, I believe it was a newscaser covering the event?)

Really sad. At least the sicko is dead. (Nathan Gale, not Dimebag.)

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 12-10-2004, 05:23 PM:
 
Yeah a news cameraman was at the great white show, I believe he partly owned the club with his brother... with cameras getting smaller and smaller these days I'm sure there's some photos and/or video of the incident that will surface sooner or later.
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 12-11-2004, 02:02 AM:
 
I heard about this incident on the news. I honestly can't say that I've ever heard of the guy, or his band, but it's an unbelieveable occurence. Not to be insensitive, but isn't this the sort of action that "death metal" glorifies? Killing because you're pissed off?

 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-11-2004, 01:52 PM:
 

quote: Tim Reed

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Not to be insensitive, but isn't this the sort of action that "death metal" glorifies? Killing because you're pissed off?

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quote:

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Death metal has, like most subgenres of heavy metal, proven notoriously difficult to define. Some fans and musicians have a firm concept of the genre, its categories and subcategories. Others consider such categorisation limiting or useless. There is often crossover from one metal genre to another, and the influence of non-metal genres is not uncommon.

Death metal is usually identified by extreme brutality, intensity and speed. The vocals - death grunts, (guttural roars) or "growls", as they're often called, are rough and often incomprehensible and they usually communicate macabre subject matter. The focus on mortality likely inspired the naming of this genre as "Death" metal.

Death Metal is known for very abrupt tempo and count/time signature changes, and extremely fast and complex double bass drumwork. Most bands of this genre use downtuned guitars (usually utilising two), which play both rhythm and lead guitar parts, a downtuned bass guitar, a double bass drum set, and a vocalist who uses the death grunt vocal style. Some bands add incidental synthesizers for effects.

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