The Tragic Night at Alrosa Villa: A Look Back at the 2004 Shooting During a Damageplan Concert

On the night of Wednesday, December 8, 2004, tragedy struck at the Alrosa Villa, a well-known nightclub located on Sinclair Road in Columbus, Ohio. The venue, usually filled with the sounds of music and the energy of concertgoers, became the site of a horrific mass shooting that left four people dead and seven others wounded. The event occurred during a live performance by the heavy metal band Damageplan, a group formed by former Pantera members Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott.

The events that unfolded on that fateful night shocked not only the local community but the entire world of rock and metal music. The images from the scene, capturing the devastation and chaos, remain a somber reminder of how quickly violence can shatter a peaceful moment.

The Band: Damageplan and Their Rise to Fame
Damageplan was a relatively new band at the time of the incident, having formed in 2003 following the disbandment of Pantera, one of the most influential heavy metal bands of the 1990s and early 2000s. The Abbott brothers, Dimebag Darrell (lead guitar) and Vinnie Paul (drums), were at the core of Damageplan, and they quickly brought on board guitarist Pat Lachman (former Diesel Machine and Halford) and bassist Bob Zilla.

Damageplan’s debut album, New Found Power, was released earlier in 2004, and it quickly gained attention, debuting at number 38 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was filled with heavy riffs and powerful vocals, building on the legacy of Pantera while also marking a new chapter for the Abbott brothers. Despite their success and growing fanbase, tragedy loomed on the horizon.

The Night of the Tragedy
On the evening of December 8, 2004, Damageplan was performing a live show at the Alrosa Villa. The atmosphere was electric as fans gathered to hear songs from New Found Power and experience the reunion of the Abbott brothers, who had been part of the music world’s most iconic metal duo. The opening acts, Position 6 and 12 Gauge, had already played, setting the stage for the headliners.

It was during the Damageplan set, around 10:00 PM, that a gunman, later identified as Nathan Gale, climbed onto the stage and opened fire on the band. Gale shot and killed Dimebag Darrell, along with three others: two audience members and the club’s security guard. Several other concertgoers were also wounded in the crossfire.

The scene inside the club was nothing short of chaos. Concertgoers screamed and scrambled for safety as the violence unfolded. The immediate and brutal attack left many in shock, unable to comprehend what had just occurred in the very space that had been filled with the energy of the crowd just moments before.

The Heroism of Officer James Niggemeyer
As the gunman continued his rampage, the police response was swift. Officer James Niggemeyer, a Columbus police officer who was nearby at the time of the shooting, responded to the scene. Niggemeyer was able to confront Gale, and in an act of bravery, he shot and killed the gunman, ending the threat. However, by the time the incident was over, it was too late for those who had lost their lives, and the tragedy had forever marked the city and the world of music.

The Aftermath and the Search for Motive
In the aftermath of the shooting, authorities struggled to determine Gale’s motive. Witnesses reported that Gale appeared to have a personal vendetta against the Abbott brothers. Some claimed that Gale believed they were responsible for the breakup of Pantera and that he accused them of stealing his lyrics, though no concrete evidence has ever confirmed these allegations. The true motive behind the attack remains unclear to this day.

For Damageplan, the shooting was a devastating blow. The band’s future was shattered in a single moment, and they never performed again after the tragic events at Alrosa Villa. Unreleased recordings of Damageplan exist, but they have never surfaced, leaving fans to wonder what might have been. While Vinnie Paul and Bob Zilla went on to join the band Hellyeah, and Pat Lachman joined The Mercy Clinic, the legacy of Damageplan remains marked by the loss of one of the greatest guitarists in heavy metal history.

Remembering Dimebag Darrell
Dimebag Darrell was not only a guitarist; he was a beloved figure in the heavy metal community. Known for his virtuosic guitar playing and his larger-than-life personality, Darrell’s death was felt deeply across the music world. Fans from around the globe mourned his passing, and tributes poured in from fellow musicians, fans, and those who had admired his work with Pantera and Damageplan. Darrell’s legacy endures through his music, and his impact on heavy metal can still be felt today.

Conclusion
The events that transpired at Alrosa Villa on December 8, 2004, left an indelible mark on Columbus, Ohio, and the world of music. While the loss of four lives that night is an undeniable tragedy, it also serves as a reminder of the importance of community and the need for vigilance in the face of violence.

Damageplan’s brief but powerful existence as a band is one of the most tragic stories in rock history, as it was cut short in an act of senseless violence. As we look back on that night, we remember the lives lost, the heroism of Officer James Niggemeyer, and the enduring influence of Dimebag Darrell and the Abbott brothers on the world of metal music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Darrell Abbott also known as Dimebag Darrell and Diamond Darrell, was an American musician and songwriter who was a co-founder of Pantera alongside his brother Vinnie Paul, and founder of Damageplan. He was considered to be one of the driving forces behind groove metal.

Abbott was shot and killed by a gunman while on stage during a performance with Damageplan on December 8, 2004, at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. He ranked No. 92 in Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarists and No. 1 in the UK magazine, Metal Hammer.

On December 8, 2004, 34 dates into the Devastation Across The Nation tour, Abbott was shot on-stage while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio. A crowd of approximately 250 had watched four support acts (two local bands entitled Volume Dealer and 12 Gauge, and the tour support Shadows Fall and The Haunted), when moments into Damageplan’s set, 25-year-old former Marine Nathan Gale shot Abbott five times in the head with a 9 mm Beretta 92FS pistol. Some in attendance initially believed the shooting was part of the act, but as Gale continued shooting, the audience quickly came to the realization that the event was not staged. Firing a total of 15 shots, Gale killed three other people and wounded seven more.

Jeff “Mayhem” Thompson, the band’s head of security, was killed tackling Gale, as was Alrosa Villa employee Erin Halk. Audience member Nathan Bray was killed while trying to perform CPR on Abbott and Thompson. It was rumored that one crowd member leapt in front of the gunman, saving the lives of several band members. Damageplan’s drum technician, John “Kat” Brooks, was shot three times as he attempted to disarm Gale, but was overpowered and taken hostage in a headlock hold. Tour manager Chris Paluska was also injured.

Responding within three minutes to a dispatch call made at 10:15pm, seven police officers entered through the front entrance and moved toward the stage. Officer James Niggemeyer came in through the back door, behind the stage. Gale only saw the officers in front of the stage; he did not see Niggemeyer, who was armed with a 12 gauge Remington 870 shotgun. Niggemeyer approached Gale from the opposite side of the stage past a group of security guards, and saw Gale lift his gun to Brooks’ head, and fired a single shot as Gale noticed him. Gale was struck in the face with eight of the nine buckshot pellets and killed instantly. Gale was found to have had 35 rounds of ammunition remaining.

Two fans administered CPR on Abbott until paramedics arrived, but were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Early speculation about motive suggested that Gale, who was a Pantera fan, might have turned to violence in response to the breakup of the band, or the public dispute between Abbott and Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, but these were later ruled out by investigators. In VH1‘s documentary, Behind the Music, Damageplan’s sound engineer Aaron Barnes stated that the whole time, after shooting Dimebag, Gale was looking for Vinnie, possibly planning to murder him too. Another conjecture was that Gale believed Abbott had stolen a song that he had written. About six months prior to the shooting, Gale got into an altercation at a Damageplan concert in Cincinnati where he damaged $5,000 worth of equipment while being removed from the stage by security.

 

Photographed with Canon 1D MkII cameras in RAW mode with L series lenses