Lawsuit filed by Dimebag Darrell's family

The estate of late Pantera and Damageplan guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, who was shot to death in December of 2004 at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio during a Damageplan show, has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the club, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The suit was ended late last week when Abbott's family and two employees of Damageplan also injured in the shooting spree agreed to a "nominal settlement," according to venue attorney Rebecca Price, who did not disclose the terms of the agreement.

Club manager Rick Cautela said in a statement, "What happened here on December 8, 2004, was a tragedy for everyone and our hearts go out to the victims and their families. There is nothing we could have done to stop it."

Attorneys for Abbott's family did not issue any comment.

The suit claimed that the Cautela family, which owns Alrosa Villa, was negligent in allowing 25-year-old Nathan Gale to enter the club with a gun and reach the stage, where he killed four people and injured several others.

Gale jumped onstage and shot Abbott in the head before turning the gun on others. He was killed by police officer James Niggemeyer. The ex-Marine had a history of mental illness.
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