DAMAGEPLAN's Bodyguard Laid To Rest: Video Tribute Available

Brett Shipp of WFAA-TV reports: A Dallas native who died in the brutal nightclub shootings in Columbus, Ohio last week was laid to rest in Arkansas on Thursday. [Watch Brett's video report at this location]

Jeff Thompson, lovingly referred to as "Mayhem", was by all accounts was a giant of a man and, above all else, a hero.

The gregarious and robust figure, a regular at Scarborough Fair, often played with the band THE ROGUES and out-muscled everyone during Scottish games. He was a fixture not only on the renaissance scene, but in Deep Ellum in Dallas where he partied, worked as a bouncer and made friends.

"He was the type of person, he had a place in his heart and his mind for every detail of every friend he ever had," said friend Stephen Van Hecke. "You don't find friends like that."

The "gentle giant" — who some said was six foot seven — was also a bodyguard for the Dallas band DAMAGEPLAN, and last week courageously put himself between the band, the fans and a gun.

"Before he left here he said, 'I would take a bullet for those guys,'" said Van Hecke. "He said that to me, he really did."

Sandy Hall is just one of hundreds in the Deep Ellum entertainment district who are not only shocked by his death, but moved to pay tribute. Up and down the street, clubs and restaurants are toasting his memory, sharing their own and chipping in to help pay for a funeral the family cannot afford.

"It's like losing a son and a brother and a father and a friend ... it's really, really hard," said Coyote Ugly manager Sandy Hall.

For those unable to verbally express their loss, this inscription of tribute seem to summarize the feelings of many: "May God bless you Mayhem, and may you protect us all from above as you did down here."