No Rock And Roll Fun

PROBABLY WORKING TOWARDS A THEORY, THEN: As often happens with the digging into the background of a guy with a gun, the killer sounds more and more like someone who really could have done with a friend or two rather than a gun licence. A former marine, Nathan Gale wasn't unknown to his local police but hadn't a reputation as a major troublemaker. He was, however, considered odd: Dave Johnson, a Columbus musician, tells of how Gale once tried to get his band to play some songs he'd claimed to have written. When someone pointed out that the songs were actually Pantera tracks, Gale claimed Pantera had stolen not just the songs, but also his whole identity, and that they were about to face some serious legal action.

On the day of the shootings, Gale had stormed out of the local tattoo parlour - a place he could often be founded boring people about heavy metal - following a row over something.

The saddest thing in the whole story is that Gale has been survived by his mother who - perhaps understandably - is trying to keep away from the media.

Besides Darrell Abbott, Gale murdered club loader Erin Halk, gig-goer Nathan Bray and bodyguard Jeff Thompson. Drum tech John Brooks has been released from the local hospital, and tour manager Chris Paluska remains in a stable condition.