Fri Oct 21, 7:29 PM ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A new police report details a chaotic scene at a concert here last December, when a gunman climbed on stage and shot former Pantera guitarist (Dimebag) Darrell Abbott three times in the head.

At the heavy metal concert by the group Damageplan, Nathan Gale, 25, killed four people, including Abbott. A Columbus policeman later shot and killed Gale. Nearly 300 witness interviews, released Thursday in a 627-page report, showed people were confused about the sequence of the shootings at the Alrosa Villa nightclub.

Witnesses said Gale sneaked into the concert before opening fire with his 9-mm handgun.

Christopher Paluska, Damageplan's tour manager, said he was shot first as he tried to prevent the gunman from climbing onto the stage. It was previously believed Abbott was the initial victim.

Paluska was one of three people who were shot but survived. Another, stage technician John Brooks, wrestled with Gale, who pinned him as a hostage as police moved toward the stage.

Officer James Niggemeyer then killed Gale with one shotgun blast while he was holding Brooks hostage. Brooks told investigators although he didn't hear Niggemeyer fire at Gale, he felt Gale's grip weaken and hurried off the stage.

A grand jury cleared Niggemeyer, 31, of any wrongdoing in May. Gale still had 35 bullets left when killed, investigators said.

During the melee, Damageplan drummer Vincent Abbott hid behind amplifiers and lead singer Patrick Lachman screamed into the microphone for someone to call the police.

Gale's mother has said her son was obsessed with Pantera and believed the band had stolen song lyrics from him. The band was nominated for Grammys for best metal performance in 1995 for I'm Broken and in 2001 for Revolution Is My Name before Abbott left the group.

Gale had told both his mother and a former employer that he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic before he was discharged from the marines in October 2003, two years into a four-year stint. Military records do not mention mental illness as the reason for the discharge.

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