Dimebag Darrell, guitarist for Pantera and Damageplan, was one of at least four people fatally wounded during a bizarre shooting at a concert in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night.
According to Columbus NBC affiliate NBC4, Dimebag – real name Darrell Abbott – was among the fatalities resulting from the incident, which occurred during a Damageplan performance at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus. Authorities did not release the names of any of the other fatalities to NBC4. Columbus police told MTV News that the gunman killed four people and wounded two before being shot and killed by a police officer.
One witness told the NBC affiliate that a man jumped onto the stage during the first song of the band’s set and began firing a gun. According to the witness, the man fired several shots at the band before being tackled by club security. One of the survivors is in critical condition at a local hospital, while another is in fair condition.
“A Columbus police officer, when he arrived, engaged the shooter, and the shooter is also dead, and if the officer hadn’t acted when he did and how he did, we’d probably be looking at more dead, because this guy was actively shooting,” Sergeant Brent Mull, a public information officer, told MTV News.
“We have 200-plus patrons that we have sequestered inside three city buses,” Sergeant Mull explained. “We are interviewing them one by one. The ones that were inside and witnessed this ran for their lives and were in fear for their lives. They are victims too, and we want to take care of them.”
As news of Dimebag’s bizarre and tragic demise rippled through the metal community, the news was met with shock and sadness.
“I’m speechless,” former Rob Zombie/ Ozzy Osbourne bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson said. “This is totally unreal. Dimebag is a f-ing legend and this is total bullsh-.”
“This is insane and this is beyond travesty,” Killswitch Engage frontman and former Damageplan tour partner Howard Jones said. “This is beyond anything I’ve ever heard. This shouldn’t happen in or outside of the rock and metal community. He will be missed and mourned as a person, as a musician, and as a friend.”
