Five Dead in Columbus, Ohio, Nightclub Shooting
~Ex-Pantera Guitarist Dimebag Darrell Slain, TV Station Says
CHICAGO (Dec. 9) - A man opened fire on a heavy metal band during a performance at a crowded bar in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday night, killing four people and wounding two others before he was killed by police, officials said.
The incident happened at the Alrosa Villa on the city's north side where about 200 patrons were on hand for a performance by Damageplan, according to Sgt. Brent Mull, spokesman for the Columbus police.
He said a man walked on stage and began shooting. A police officer called to the scene shot and killed the gunman, Mull said, and in so doing ''we believed he saved other lives.''
At least one band member was believed to be among the dead, he said. Two people who were wounded were taken to a hospital.
Mull said the motive for the shooting was not known.
The NBC television affiliate in Columbus, WCMH, reported that one of the dead was Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell. It said the band was playing its first song in a set when the gunman ran on stage and began shooting. Some members of the audience initially thought the affair might have been part of the band's act, the station said.
Dimebag Darrell and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, were previously with Texan thrash metal band Pantera, which formed in the early 1980s.
That band topped the U.S. album charts with its 1994 release ''Far Beyond Driven,'' which also yielded a Grammy nomination. After the band's bitter break-up the brothers formed Damageplan with singer Pat Lachman and bassist Bob Zilla.
Damageplan's debut album, ''New Found Power'' -- hailed for its ''violent dissonance'' by Blender magazine -- hit No. 38 on the U.S. charts earlier this year.