A man walked onstage in a crowded nightclub during a Columbus, Ohio, rock concert by the heavy metal band Damageplan Wednesday night and opened fire on the band, authorities tell the Associated Press.
The gunman, identified by police as Nathan Gale, killed four people and wounded two others before police shot him dead.
Columbus police department spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio identified three of the victims as guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and two other men, Nathan Bray and Erin Halk.
According to a witness, the band had just begun their first song at the Alrosa Villa when Gale, 25, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and hockey jersey, walked up to the stage and opened fire, initially targeting Abbott, a former member of the rock group Pantera. Other members of Damageplan include vocalist Patrick Lachman and bass player Bob Zilla, according to the band's Web site.
The gunman climbed onto the stage, started yelling and shot the guitarist five or six times at close range, said witness, Chris Couch, 22. He said the gunman also shot a bouncer who had pulled him off the musician.
"It was definitely a grudge," Couch, who said the gunman was yelling at Abbott, opined. "It was against something."
Columbus police spokesman Sgt. Brent Mull told the news service that Gale took aim at the crowd after he shot at the musicians. An officer who arrived soon after then killed Gale.
"If the officer wasn't as close as he was, I think this would have been a lot worse," said Mull. "It was a chaotic scene, just a horrific scene."
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