UPDATES
*News on the police officer who shot the shooter, Gale:
- The gunman had a hostage in a headlock and seemed to be preparing to kill him when the officer, James D. Niggemeyer, managed to shoot without injuring the hostage, police said.
....Police spokesman Sgt. Brent Mull said that after shooting at band members, the gunman fired into the crowd. Niggemeyer, patrolling nearby, arrived within two minutes, he said.
"If the officer wasn't as close as he was, I think this would have been a lot worse," Mull said. "It was a chaotic scene, just a horrific scene."
Niggemeyer, 31, entered the club through a back door and was directed to the stage, where he saw one person lying dead and the suspect holding onto another "pretty much in a headlock," Mull said.
"The officer was able to strategically gun this guy down before he was able to kill this hostage," Mull said. He said the hostage, "probably a fan, maybe someone who worked with the band," was able to maneuver out of the way somewhat before the officer fired.
*11am ET - Columbus police news conference going on right now.
*Fox News is covering the story actively.
*The Columbus NBC affiliate seems to be keeping up with the latest news here:
- The shooting took place shortly after 10 p.m. at Alrosa Villa, located at 5055 Sinclair Rd.
A crowd of about 250 people was inside for a concert by Damageplan, a heavy metal band. Two former members of the band Pantera formed the group.
The band took the stage shortly after 10 p.m., and minutes later, a man, who was wearing a hockey jersey and hooded sweatshirt, began firing at point-blank range at least four times at guitarist Dimebag Darrell, NBC 4's Kyle Anderson reported.
Darrell Abbott, who was known as "Dimebag Darrell," was pronounced dead at the scene, NBC 4's Kyle Anderson reported. Police released the names of two others who died. They were Nathan Bray and Erin Halk, both audience members.
"(The gunman) came on stage, from the back, like he knew what he was doing and went straight to Dimebag Darrell immediately," an unidentified witness said."
The alleged gunman reportedly shot and killed another member of the band before firing shots into the crowd.
Columbus police were flooded with 911 calls from concertgoers right after the shooting. Some witnesses said the alleged gunman took someone hostage. Minutes later, a Columbus police officer entered the nightclub and shot and killed the man, Anderson reported.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Aaman
Typo in my trackback - I'm evidently affected - it should be Darrell Abbott, not Vinnie Abbott. Personally, I was more a Pantera fan than Damageplan.
2 - Eric Olsen
thanks Marty, incredibly awful - both the Pantera and Damageplan sites seem to be down right now, overwhelmed no doubt
3 - Andrew Ian Dodge
Yes, no matter what you thought of either band, this is a terrible event. I was a great gig last night (review to follow) but my enjoyment has been a wee bit tainted by this tragic news. Whether a musician or a fan this is a very sad day for heavy metaldom.
4 - Aaman
Don Imus is playing Pantera right now on his show - he also notes that the gunman apparently had 'issues' with the guitarist
5 - Aaman
Andrew - were you at the venue?
6 - Andrew Ian Dodge
No, I was at the DSF/Girlschool gig at the Garage in London.
7 - bhw
This happened in Ohio, where I believe carrying a concealed weapon was recently made legal.
Great law.
8 - Eric Olsen
The Columbus NBC affiliate seems to be keeping up with the latest news here:
The shooting took place shortly after 10 p.m. at Alrosa Villa, located at 5055 Sinclair Rd.
A crowd of about 250 people was inside for a concert by Damageplan, a heavy metal band. Two former members of the band Pantera formed the group.
The band took the stage shortly after 10 p.m., and minutes later, a man, who was wearing a hockey jersey and hooded sweatshirt, began firing at point-blank range at least four times at guitarist Dimebag Darrell, NBC 4's Kyle Anderson reported.
Darrell Abbott, who was known as "Dimebag Darrell," was pronounced dead at the scene, NBC 4's Kyle Anderson reported. Police released the names of two others who died. They were Nathan Bray and Erin Halk, both audience members.
"(The gunman) came on stage, from the back, like he knew what he was doing and went straight to Dimebag Darrell immediately," an unidentified witness said."
The alleged gunman reportedly shot and killed another member of the band before firing shots into the crowd.
Columbus police were flooded with 911 calls from concertgoers right after the shooting. Some witnesses said the alleged gunman took someone hostage. Minutes later, a Columbus police officer entered the nightclub and shot and killed the man, Anderson reported.
9 - Eric Olsen
their video report, which seems to be only audio is here
10 - Andrew Ian Dodge
BHW, making a political point before rigor mortis has set in...classy mate, classy.
11 - bhw
Sorry, Marty, I don't let other people dictate when I can make my comments.
12 - rick
i submitted the story to ohioans for concealed carry. you can too here.
13 - Andrew Ian Dodge
Fair enough BHP.
But I am guessing the off-duty cop had a concealed weapon permit as well. He is the hero who took out this arsehole before he could any more people.
14 - Eric Olsen
I'm not sure if the officer was off-duty or not
15 - Andrew Ian Dodge
That is what Fox is reporting. They have the name of the guy now but no idea of motive.
16 - bhw
From what I read earlier this morning, the cop really did do an outstanding job.
17 - JR
The cop would have been carrying his gun even without the new concealed carry law; I'm sure he gets some kind of exemption. And the shooter would have been carrying anyway, because he was already planning to break the law. So the new law made no difference.
However, concealed carry laws do seem to promote guns as a valid tool for conflict resolution.
18 - Temple Stark
Is it kind of weird that I deleted "This Love" from my iTunes playlist yesterday morning? Why, yes it is.
I read somewhere else about this and wasn't 100 percent sure that it was the Pantera guy. The Reuters story I saw didn't mention Pantera.
So I came here to see if there was anything. If not, I was going to post. But there was and it answered my question.
Ohio seems to be the place for high-profile mass shootings.
19 - D.B.Cooper
This happened in Ohio, where I believe carrying a concealed weapon was recently made legal. Great law.
This crime had NOTHING to do with that law. I am going to take a wild guess (though I know I am right), and say the shooter Nathan Gale had no such permit. Blaming this crime on concealed weapon laws in Ohio is blaming the state rather than Gale, a demented fuck with a damn death wish.....
20 - Craig Lyndall
Ohio seems to be the place for high-profile mass shootings.
Was that a callback to Kent State or something?
Also, I don't like the conceal and carry law just because I don't really do the gun thing anyway, but this crime was going to be committed regardless of some conceal and carry law. As I stated on my site, I want to know why this happened. I have been getting frisked at the doors of shows for a long time now and while that certainly isn't foolproof, they should be able to come up with a concealed weapon at the door check.
21 - Dawn
How horribly sad.
What JR and Craig said about the law and the crime going to be committed anyway is correct. Guns are pointless tools of destruction in the hands of anyone but law enforcement officials, but of course, that's because I believe that cops don't go around looking for excuses to kill people.
Thank goodness this police officer acted bravely and responded quickly.
I for one am glad the shooter is DEAD -that's one less useless asshole.
22 - Aaman
This moron apparently shot Dimebag because they broke up Pantera - and 'cause Phil did not join DamagePlan.
Also from the same post -
"There's some blood on my ticket stub, so I'm going to sell it on eBay or keep it or something. I know DBD is in heaven (or ripping some mad riffs in hell)."
Apparently another band member has also been killed
23 - Aaman
I just realized - December 8 was also John Lennon's death anniversary 24 years ago.
24 - Andrew Ian Dodge
Yes, ironic innit?
25 - Eric Olsen
though still not officially stated anywhere, it appears the other band member killed was the singer, Patrick Lachman