Concertgoer Says He Tried To Get Gun Away From DIMEBAG's Killer

December 10, 2004

While most people at Columbus' Alrosa Villa nightclub watched in stunned horror Wednesday night as Nathan Gale fired his weapon onstage, and then at the crowd, a Central Ohio man sprang to action, NBC 4's Nancy Burton reported.

Travis Burnett, who is an amateur fighter, said he ran up on the stage in hopes of forcing the gunman to shoot himself.

"I didn't see anybody dead," Burnett said. "I wasn't concentrated on them. I was concentrated on (Gale).

Burnett said he tried to get the gun away from Gale.

"He had the gun aimed at my chest when I walked around," Burnett said. "I asked him, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Get out of here,' and I said, 'No.' I moved up to him and then he shot my arm and I took off."

The bullet grazed Burnett's arm.

"I didn't feel it," Burnett said. "I just know there was a hole in my shirt."

Burnett ran back behind the bar. There, he saw Niggemeyer come into the nightclub with a shotgun. He didn't see the officer shoot the gunman, but he did hear the blast, Burton reported.

"I have a friend that's a police officer and he said that cop did a really courageous thing," Burnett said.

Police said that Gale was holding a hostage. Burnett said that Gale and a security guard were wrestling and Gale had a "good hold" on the man, appearing that there was a hostage situation. Burnett said it was hard to tell, saying there was chaos inside the club. Read more.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).