SENSELESSNESS

       

"The reverend he turned to me, without a tear in his eyes. It's nothing new for him to see. I didn't ask him why." ~from the song Cemetery Gates performed by Pantera

 

It has been over a year that I have thought about writing this entry. Many times during the past months I wanted to find out the thoughts and feelings my nephew had about the incident. I was afraid to ask him. My concern was that I might stir up some buried emotions by urging him to relive the evening for me. And so I waited. Hoping time would be kind to him. Friday I finally talked to him about what had happened.

 

This is about Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott's last nite. His name is not one the majority of people recognize. His father is country-westerm songwriter and producer Jerry Abbott. Darrell was a guitarist (who some consider to be one of the top guitarists ever to play) who formed a heavy metal band called Pantera. It was one of the most successful bands of the nineties. When it split in 2001, he moved on to play for Damageplan.

 

In early December of 2004, Damageplan came to play in Columbus, Ohio. A crowded Alrosa Villa club was just getting into the music of the first song when a young man jumped onto the stage and shot Darrell repeatedly. His gunfire was not confined solely to the guitarist. The manic shooting spree killed four. Darrell first. One of the dead was a fan. One a club employee. One a bodyguard for the band. There was a fifth death...that of the gunman when a patrol officer shot him. And with that, Darrell Abbott became the first musician ever to be murdered onstage.

 

Oh, the reason the 25-year-old man shot Darrell? He was mad at him for disbanding Pantera and joining another group. Nice, huh?

 

My nephew was eager to see this group play that particular evening. He is a huge fan of music and always knows the latest information about various groups. He had been a Pantera fan and was a Damageplan fan. He and his boss excitedly arrived at the Alrosa. The opening song began to be played. Then gunfire erupted. First aimed at Darrell, then it was sprayed everywhere. Shots were fired into the crowd. The spectators fled the club and were kept in a parking lot to be questioned by police. Knowing my sister would hear about the shooting on the news, my nephew called her from his cell phone to let her know he was unharmed.

 

These are the questions I asked him and his responses:

 

1. Do you think about that awful nite very often? No.

 

2. During the shootings, what did you think? At first, I thought it was part of the act. I think everyone thought that.

 

3. When all of you realized it was NOT part of the act, how did everyone react? It was not too chaotic getting out of the club. There was no pushing or shoving. Maybe everyone was kind of in shock. I called Mom to let her know I was okay, because I knew she would see it on the news and be worried. I remember feeling agitated when I talked to her.

 

4. Did you think about it a lot after that nite? And did it cause you to be afraid when you attended concerts from them on? At first for a few days, I couldn't think about it at all. Three days after the shooting, I went to a concert. I was nervous. I am not anymore.

 

5. What are your feelings about what happened? The whole situation pi**es me off. It was a terrible waste. He was supposedly a nice guy (Abbott). Not only were the killings so awful, but the Alrosa's revenue was affected by it. Now few bands want to perform at the Alrosa. There used to be great groups that came there. There aren't anymore. It frustrates me.

 

6. Any lingering effects on you? I think I will always be angry about it. I don't really think about the shootings themselves except when I am listening to Pantera or Damageplan songs.

 

I ended the interrogation at that point even though my mind was spinning with dozens more questions I wanted to ask him. It just "felt" the right time to stop had arrived. And I feel sure that after my phone conversation with him, he was probably assaulted by nonstop thoughts about all that I had dredged up.

 

I know after I hung up the phone, I yet again thanked God that my precious nephew had not been one of the fatalities on that cold December evening.

 

Closing with a very disturbing and chilling quote:

 

"Guns are neat little things, aren't they? They can kill extraordinary people with very little effort." ~John W. Hinckley