Officer In DIMEBAG Shooting: 'I Was Hoping He'd Let The Hostage Go'

Six months after the unforgettable night in Columbus, Ohio that resulted in the death of PANTERA/DAMAGEPLAN guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Officer James Niggemeyer spoke to MTV News about the split-second confrontation with Dimebag's killer, Nathan Gale, that still plays in his mind.

"I remember I was leaving my substation, which is about two miles from the club, when a call came in as a '43 at the Alrosa' — which is police code for a shooting," said Niggemeyer. "Then, additional calls were coming in about what the suspect was wearing and more shots fired. I was on my way there, so I was the first to arrive on the scene.

"There was a group of people standing by the back door and they called me over to come that way as other officers were arriving on the scene," recalled Niggemeyer, who said he had driven past the club numerous times over the years, but had never been inside.

"There's no doubt in my mind that [Gale] didn't know I was there," Niggemeyer said. "From where I was, I could see he was focused on the other officers coming in the front." As Gale, who had already shot and killed Abbott and three others, was looking toward the other officers, Niggemeyer crawled through the piles of equipment on the small stage.

Though Gale did not fire any shots while Niggemeyer was inside the club, he was silently waving his 9-mm handgun at the crowd. "I was still hoping maybe he'd let the hostage go and retreat," Niggemeyer said. "I was just trying to get as close as I could to assess the situation and hoping he'd [release] the hostage so I wouldn't have to shoot. But then, while he was waving the gun around, he took it and stuck it to the hostage's head ... which changed the whole situation, if he was going to possibly execute the hostage. They never mentioned a hostage on the radio calls. I knew at that point he wasn't going to let this guy go, and [might] do something to him."

With the hostage's head positioned just under Gale's chin, Niggemeyer — who said he had only shot deer before — leveled his department-issued shotgun and aimed for Gale's head.

"I knew from that distance I could shoot the suspect, as long as I aimed high enough and wouldn't hurt the hostage," he said. "At that point, almost immediately, I fired." Gale, felled with a single shot, slumped to the ground. By the time Niggemeyer walked to the front of the stage, two other officers had approached Gale's body. In a video released on June 3, a club security guard can be heard telling Niggemeyer he did what he had to do, but the officer said he was so numb at that point he doesn't recall anyone speaking to him. "I was pretty shook up from having to shoot somebody," he said.

Read more at MTV.com.