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From AussyAce
Dimebag Darrell was a HUGE KISS FAN and had always claimed his first ever influence was Kiss guitarist Ace
Frehley. Like many kids, he applied Kiss' famous face make-up and jammed along to Kiss records with a Les
Paul guitar that looked like Ace Frehley's, he even had an Ace Frehley tattoo emblazoned on his chest.
EX-PANTERA member who was gunned down on Wednesday, the 24th Anniversary of John Lennon's murder at the
hands of a crazed fan, Abbott was gunned down by a man who also appeared to have an obsession with him...
Abbott, 38, who was playing with his new band Damageplan, was one of four people killed by Nathan Gale.
Some witnesses said Gale, 25, targeted Abbott and shouted, "You broke up Pantera." He then fired at his
band and into the crowd at the Alrosa Villa club before being killed by a policeman. The rest of the
band appeared to have escaped unharmed.
The shooting has shocked the music world. Fatalities occasionally happen at rock concerts, but the stars
are usually the witnesses to mayhem in the crowd.
"Dimebag was a dear friend of mine," heavy-metal icon Ozzy Osbourne, who toured with Pantera many times,
said in a statement. "I'm absolutely beside myself with grief. I can't for the life of me understand why
someone would do this."
Here is a detailed account of the actual shooting event :
Kevin Holycross was standing onstage at Damageplan's tragic show Wednesday.
A lot of fans didn't understand what they were seeing when a man jumped onstage and shot guitarist
"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night, with many believing it to be part of the
show. But one fan understood immediately, because he was standing just a few feet away.
Having befriended Damageplan drum tech John "Kat" Brooks before the show, 28-year-old Kevin Holycross
found himself standing off to the side of the stage as the band began performing. "The beginning of the
nightmare," as he called it, started 40 seconds into the first song, when gunman Nathan Gale walked
up to the guitarist and "shot him in the side of the head, almost point blank".
The crowd, not registering what happened, continued clapping and screaming, Holycross said, with
people leaning over the balconies shouting, "It's a hoax! It's a hoax!" But knowing it wasn't, Brooks
began screaming, "What the f---? What the f---?" Holycross said.
Holycross followed Brooks to the side of the stage, where a security guard was trying to subdue Gale
and got shot as a result. As the shots continued — one hitting Brooks in the leg — people began to
realize what was happening and started screaming, "Call 911!" as they ducked for cover.
In the midst of the chaos, Gale remained calm.
"He wasn't screaming," Holycross said. "Everybody's screaming at him, but I didn't see his mouth
move one time. He didn't look like he was flipping out, you know what I mean? You'd expect somebody
[who'd do this] to be crazy and jumpy, real sketchy. But he was calm and collected. He wasn't
rapidly firing shots, he wasn't back and forth with his gun. He seemed to know his targets."
When Gale ran out of bullets and stopped to reload, people screamed, "He's out, he's out, get him!"
Holycross said he and four or five other guys onstage tried to charge the shooter. "We're by the
guitar amps, we're on stage right, and he's on stage left behind Dimebag's stack," he said. "And we get
about to the drum set when he puts another clip in the gun. It only took a second or two."
Gale then fired two more shots, but they didn't seem directed at anyone in particular, more like
warning shots to get away, Holycross said. Two or three police officers were in the venue by then,
he said, with the officers on the floor distracting Gale while another came
through the back door. It appeared Gale was trying to put his gun down on the bass amp when he was
shot and killed by police, Holycross said, but authorities have said Gale was threatening a hostage
when he was shot by the officer who snuck in the back door.
Once Gale was down, people tried to give CPR to Abbott, and Holycross tried to get Brooks out
the back to get help. Police asked Holycross to give a statement, but he was too upset to do so at
the time.
"Imagine being in the coldest place on earth with no clothes on," Holycross said. "I wanted to
throw up. I wanted to bawl. I wanted to run and find a gun. To see this guy shot in front of me,
one of my idols, it was scary as hell. It was the scariest thing I've ever seen, it was the saddest
thing I've ever seen, it was the most horrible thing I've ever seen. I wish I had never seen it."
Afterward, Holycross was struck by the memory of an incident that occurred prior to the show.
While standing near the tour bus around 9:30 p.m., he said, he saw Gale and another man come up
and ask Brooks if they could party with the band. Holycross said Brooks responded, "They're not
partying, they don't party."
"What do you mean they don't party?" Gale responded irately, flipping off the bus as he walked
away, staggering.
Holycross said it doesn't exactly explain everything, but he wonders, was Gale drunk or on
drugs? Was he looking for an opportunity to shoot Abbott earlier, or did he shoot him because he
was denied the opportunity to party with him? Whatever the case, Holycross said he doesn't think
it matters, "except for closure."
PAUL STANLEY AND GENE SIMMONS PAY TRIBUTE TO "DIMEBAG"
BLACK SABBATH legend Tony Iommi, plus KISS principals Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have issued
separate statement regarding the death of DAMAGEPLAN/ex-PANTERA guitarist Dimebag Darrell:
Tony Iommi: "I was absolutely shocked by the news. Dimebag was such a really nice genuine bloke
and a great player. He was always very respectful towards me and it was lovely to have him on
tour with us. He will be sadly missed."
Paul Stanley: "I'm stunned. The taking of Dimebag Darrell's life in this horrific murder is a
senseless tragedy for his fans and unfathomable loss for his family. I send my deepest condolences
to Vinnie and the rest of his family. My thoughts are also with the families of all the other
victims of this heinous act."
Gene Simmons: "Sad to report 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott, formerly of PANTERA, has been killed in
a club incident. Our best wishes to his family and friends."
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