DIMEBAG's Estate Reaches Settlement In Lawsuit Over Alrosa Shootings

According to The Columbus Dispatch, the estate of "Dimebag" Darrel Abbott, the DAMAGEPLAN/ex-PANTERA guitarist who died in a 2004 shooting at Alrosa Villa, has reached a settlement in its wrongful-death lawsuit against the Columbus, Ohio nightclub.

The lawsuit was dismissed this week after Abbott's family and two band employees injured in the shooting agreed to a "nominal settlement," said Rebecca Price, an attorney for the club. She would not disclose terms of the agreement.

"What happened here on Dec. 8, 2004, was a tragedy for everyone and our hearts go out to the victims and their families," Alrosa Villa manager Rick Cautela said in a statement issued by Price. "There is nothing we could have done to stop it."

Gerald Leeseberg, attorney for Abbott's estate, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The lawsuit said the Cautela family, which owns and operates Alrosa Villa, was negligent in not stopping Nathan Gale, a 25-year-old Marysville man with a history of mental illness, from entering the club with a gun and ammunition.

Gale jumped a fence surrounding a patio outside the club as DAMAGEPLAN began playing its first song. He then walked through the crowd and entered the stage from behind a stack of amplifiers. He pulled a handgun and shot Abbott in the head, then turned the gun on those who tried to intervene.

DAMAGEPLAN crew member Jeffrey Thompson, club security guard Erin Halk and audience member Nathan Bray also were killed. Band manager Christopher Paluska and band technician John Brooks were wounded.

The carnage ended when Columbus Police Officer James Niggemeyer entered the club through a rear door and fatally shot Gale as Gale held a gun to Brooks' head.

The lawsuit was filed by the guitarist's brother, drummer Vincent Paul Abbott, on behalf of the estate, and Paluska and Brooks.