Posted: December 18, 2004 9:09 am
Gunman possibly mentally ill
tion
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Holly Zachariah
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Police killed Nathan Gale after he killed four people.
The gunman who killed four people last week at a heavy-metal concert was schizophrenic, his former boss told The Dispatch last night.
"I would always say, ‘Are you OK?’ Occasionally I’d ask him if he was taking his medication and because we were friends, I felt I could do that," said Rich Cencula, who owns the Minit Lube on N. Main Street in Marysville. "He always told me that he was."
Nathan Gale, 25, was killed by a single shotgun blast from a police officer after Gale killed four people and wounded two others during a concert Dec. 8 at the Alrosa Villa nightclub on the North Side.
The shootings occurred in front of about 400 fans during the opening song by Damageplan.
Gale had worked for Cencula from October 2003 until May of this year, getting the job after an administrator with a military veterans group contacted Cencula.
The officer told Cencula that he had a perfect employee for him, a man who had just been released from the Marines with a background in diesel mechanics.
So Cencula interviewed Gale.
"He told me he had a medical discharge and I asked him what it was," Cencula said. "He told me it was schizophrenia.
"By then, I’d already talked to him long enough to know I didn’t need to worry about that."
Yesterday, a woman who said she was Gale’s mother spoke with WCMH-TV (Channel 4), though she would not allow her face to be shown on air.
She verified that her son had been released from the Marine Corps last year on a medical discharge because of paranoid schizophrenia.
‘‘And I still didn’t understand the whole thing," Mary Clark told the TV station. ‘‘But he came home (from the military) with his medications, and I don’t know if he took them or not."
Cencula said Gale showed him his military papers, which said he’d received a medical discharge on Oct. 23, 2003. He began working for Cencula four days later.
Cencula said he never had trouble with Gale, who always did what he was asked and never missed work.
‘‘He was a good and faithful employee for me."
Cencula said Gale’s mother had lived with her son in an apartment on 5 th Street in Marysville and that they were very close. ‘‘She brought him lunch to work every day," Cencula said.
But this spring, Clark moved in with a boyfriend.
Gale began to worry about how he’d pay the rent alone, as well as for his medication because he had no medical insurance.
Cencula said Gale left the Minit Lube because he needed more money and better hours.
Cencula thinks the system failed Gale, saying the shootings might not have occurred if Gale had been able to afford treatment and his medication.
‘‘I get notices all of the time about how we track sexual predators," Cencula said. ‘‘But we take those diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and no one ever follows up to see they’re OK."
Witnesses at the Alrosa Villa nightclub, 5055 Sinclair Rd., said Gale walked onstage and shot Damageplan’s lead guitarist, Darrell ‘‘Dimebag" Abbott, at point-blank range, then began shooting at other band members and the audience.
Abbott was killed along with band crew member Jeff Thompson, 40, and two local men, Nathan Bray, 23, of Grove City, and Erin Halk, 29, of the Northwest Side.
Injured were band tour manager, Chris Paluska, who remains in fair condition at Riverside Methodist Hospital, and John Brooks, a drum technician with the band who has since returned home to Texas.
Gale had told friends that he believed Abbott’s former band, Pantera, had stolen lyrics from him.
‘‘He had it in his head that those were his lyrics," his mother told Channel 4. ‘‘And nobody was going to change his mind."
Clark also told the TV station last night that she had bought the Beretta 9 mm semiautomatic handgun that her son used at the Alrosa Villa. The purchase occurred before his diagnosis.
‘‘When he came home for Christmas the year he was in the service, I was so proud of that man for cleaning up his life the way he did," Clark said, referring to some earlier drug use by her son. ‘‘And I bought him that gun. I’ll never, never be able to live that part down.
‘‘I have such remorse for those families, and I am so sorry that they are losing their loved ones."
Clark also talked about notebooks that she found in her son’s apartment after the shootings. In one, Gale wrote that he ‘‘could not see (his) own thoughts."
Another entry said: ‘‘Growing up not knowing my own thoughts. This is what I think paranoid schizophrenia really is."
Marysville Police Assistant Chief Glenn Nicol said he believes Gale was cremated earlier this week and that there was no public funeral or memorial service.
Meanwhile, the Alrosa Villa remains closed.
Manager Rick Cautela said yesterday that there will be no shows until further notice.
A concert on Tuesday by heavy-metal bands Hatebreed and Full Blown Chaos has been canceled. Refunds are available where tickets were purchased.
Fans of guitarist Abbott continued to pay their respects yesterday at a makeshift shrine outside the club.
In other news, Columbus rock bands Volume Dealer and 13 th Born will raise money for the family of victim Nathan Bray at a concert at 10 o’clock tonight at the Derby, 2209 Stringtown Rd., Grove City.
Dispatch reporter Aaron Beck contributed to this story.
hzachariah@dispatch.com
tion
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Holly Zachariah
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Police killed Nathan Gale after he killed four people.
The gunman who killed four people last week at a heavy-metal concert was schizophrenic, his former boss told The Dispatch last night.
"I would always say, ‘Are you OK?’ Occasionally I’d ask him if he was taking his medication and because we were friends, I felt I could do that," said Rich Cencula, who owns the Minit Lube on N. Main Street in Marysville. "He always told me that he was."
Nathan Gale, 25, was killed by a single shotgun blast from a police officer after Gale killed four people and wounded two others during a concert Dec. 8 at the Alrosa Villa nightclub on the North Side.
The shootings occurred in front of about 400 fans during the opening song by Damageplan.
Gale had worked for Cencula from October 2003 until May of this year, getting the job after an administrator with a military veterans group contacted Cencula.
The officer told Cencula that he had a perfect employee for him, a man who had just been released from the Marines with a background in diesel mechanics.
So Cencula interviewed Gale.
"He told me he had a medical discharge and I asked him what it was," Cencula said. "He told me it was schizophrenia.
"By then, I’d already talked to him long enough to know I didn’t need to worry about that."
Yesterday, a woman who said she was Gale’s mother spoke with WCMH-TV (Channel 4), though she would not allow her face to be shown on air.
She verified that her son had been released from the Marine Corps last year on a medical discharge because of paranoid schizophrenia.
‘‘And I still didn’t understand the whole thing," Mary Clark told the TV station. ‘‘But he came home (from the military) with his medications, and I don’t know if he took them or not."
Cencula said Gale showed him his military papers, which said he’d received a medical discharge on Oct. 23, 2003. He began working for Cencula four days later.
Cencula said he never had trouble with Gale, who always did what he was asked and never missed work.
‘‘He was a good and faithful employee for me."
Cencula said Gale’s mother had lived with her son in an apartment on 5 th Street in Marysville and that they were very close. ‘‘She brought him lunch to work every day," Cencula said.
But this spring, Clark moved in with a boyfriend.
Gale began to worry about how he’d pay the rent alone, as well as for his medication because he had no medical insurance.
Cencula said Gale left the Minit Lube because he needed more money and better hours.
Cencula thinks the system failed Gale, saying the shootings might not have occurred if Gale had been able to afford treatment and his medication.
‘‘I get notices all of the time about how we track sexual predators," Cencula said. ‘‘But we take those diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and no one ever follows up to see they’re OK."
Witnesses at the Alrosa Villa nightclub, 5055 Sinclair Rd., said Gale walked onstage and shot Damageplan’s lead guitarist, Darrell ‘‘Dimebag" Abbott, at point-blank range, then began shooting at other band members and the audience.
Abbott was killed along with band crew member Jeff Thompson, 40, and two local men, Nathan Bray, 23, of Grove City, and Erin Halk, 29, of the Northwest Side.
Injured were band tour manager, Chris Paluska, who remains in fair condition at Riverside Methodist Hospital, and John Brooks, a drum technician with the band who has since returned home to Texas.
Gale had told friends that he believed Abbott’s former band, Pantera, had stolen lyrics from him.
‘‘He had it in his head that those were his lyrics," his mother told Channel 4. ‘‘And nobody was going to change his mind."
Clark also told the TV station last night that she had bought the Beretta 9 mm semiautomatic handgun that her son used at the Alrosa Villa. The purchase occurred before his diagnosis.
‘‘When he came home for Christmas the year he was in the service, I was so proud of that man for cleaning up his life the way he did," Clark said, referring to some earlier drug use by her son. ‘‘And I bought him that gun. I’ll never, never be able to live that part down.
‘‘I have such remorse for those families, and I am so sorry that they are losing their loved ones."
Clark also talked about notebooks that she found in her son’s apartment after the shootings. In one, Gale wrote that he ‘‘could not see (his) own thoughts."
Another entry said: ‘‘Growing up not knowing my own thoughts. This is what I think paranoid schizophrenia really is."
Marysville Police Assistant Chief Glenn Nicol said he believes Gale was cremated earlier this week and that there was no public funeral or memorial service.
Meanwhile, the Alrosa Villa remains closed.
Manager Rick Cautela said yesterday that there will be no shows until further notice.
A concert on Tuesday by heavy-metal bands Hatebreed and Full Blown Chaos has been canceled. Refunds are available where tickets were purchased.
Fans of guitarist Abbott continued to pay their respects yesterday at a makeshift shrine outside the club.
In other news, Columbus rock bands Volume Dealer and 13 th Born will raise money for the family of victim Nathan Bray at a concert at 10 o’clock tonight at the Derby, 2209 Stringtown Rd., Grove City.
Dispatch reporter Aaron Beck contributed to this story.
hzachariah@dispatch.com
WTF?!?