Eyewitness Says Club Shooter Was Calm As 'Nightmare' Unfolded

December 10, 2004

MTV News reports: Having befriended DAMAGEPLAN drum tech John "Kat" Brooks before the group's show in Columbus, Ohio Wednesday night (Dec. 8),28-year-old Kevin Holycross found himself standing off to the side of the stage as the band began performing. "The beginning of the nightmare," as he called it, started 40 seconds into the first song, when gunman Nathan Gale walked up to the guitarist and "shot him in the side of the head, almost point blank".

The crowd, not registering what happened, continued clapping and screaming, Holycross said, with people leaning over the balconies shouting, "It's a hoax! It's a hoax!" But knowing it wasn't, Brooks began screaming, "What the f---? What the f---?" Holycross said.

Holycross followed Brooks to the side of the stage, where a security guard was trying to subdue Gale and got shot as a result. As the shots continued — one hitting Brooks in the leg — people began to realize what was happening and started screaming, "Call 911!" as they ducked for cover.

In the midst of the chaos, Gale remained calm.

"He wasn't screaming," Holycross said. "Everybody's screaming at him, but I didn't see his mouth move one time. He didn't look like he was flipping out, you know what I mean? You'd expect somebody [who'd do this] to be crazy and jumpy, real sketchy. But he was calm and collected. He wasn't rapidly firing shots, he wasn't back and forth with his gun. He seemed to know his targets." Read more.

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