On December 8, 2004, legendary Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell was performing with his new band, Damageplan, at a Columbus, Ohio nightclub. Tragedy struck during the band's first song, when a fan named Nathan Gale rushed the stage while reportedly shouting, "You broke up Pantera!" He then shot the rock god in the head (via the New York Daily News). Darrell was just 38. Gale then shot and killed a bouncer and two concertgoers, and also took a hostage, before being killed by a police officer.
Gale's former friend, Jeramie Brey, told the Columbus Dispatch (via USA Today) that the eventual killer would write down Pantera lyrics and try to pass them off as his own. "He was off his rocker," Brey said. "He said they were his songs, that Pantera stole them from him and that he was going to sue them." Another friend told the New York Daily News that Gale idolized Pantera's lead singer, and that the band's breakup pushed the 25-year-old over the edge. "He was hard-core into Pantera," he said.
In 2010, a protective fence was erected around Darrell's grave after several vandalism attempts. "It's just a real disrespectful thing," Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul told Artisan News. "I don't understand why somebody would wanna scratch their name in somebody's tombstone or anything. But fans are rabid, man; they do unheard-of things. I just wish they would respect him and let him rest in peace and just leave it at that."
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