Damageplan's tour manager Chris Paluska and drum technician John Brooks suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds and were taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital, while road crew member Travis Burnett was treated at the scene.

A number of heavy metal artists released tributes to Abbott after his death, while others pushed for increased security at concerts to prevent another such incident.

Abbott's brother and Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul resented singer Phil Anselmo for his perceived role in influencing the shooter, and remained distant from the other members of the band until his death in 2018.

[1] After the release of their album Reinventing the Steel in 2000, tensions arose between the Abbott brothers and lead singer Phil Anselmo, and although Pantera never officially disbanded,[2] by 2003, the band members had moved on to other projects.

[6] While officers responding to a 9-1-1 call about the incident noted Gale's actions as criminal endangerment and destruction of property, Damageplan elected not to press charges as they did not want to return to Cincinnati for court proceedings.

Club manager Rick Cautela and other concertgoers noticed Gale loitering in the parking lot during the opening acts, Volume Dealer and 12 Gauge, and asked why he was outside, to which he responded, "I don't want to see no shitty local bands [...] I'm gonna wait for Damageplan.

[10] At 10:20 p.m., partway into the opening song of Damageplan's set,[a] Gale, dressed in a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey jersey and a hooded sweatshirt, jumped onto the stage and drew his Beretta 92FS 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

[9] Some attendees did not realize that a shooting had taken place, with security guard Ryan Melchiore stating, "people were pumping their fists, thinking it was a hoax.

[17] Erin "Stoney" Halk, an Alrosa Villa employee and former Marine who had either assisted Thompson or had charged Gale while he was reloading, was mortally wounded by six shots: four in the chest, one in the hand, and one in the leg.

[10][17] Travis Burnett, a member of Volume Dealer's road crew, attempted to disarm Gale and was grazed by a bullet on his left forearm.

[19] Responding within three minutes to a 9-1-1 dispatch call, Officer James Niggemeyer of the Columbus Division of Police (CPD) entered the club through a backstage door and shot Gale once in the face with a 12-gauge Remington Model 870 shotgun, killing him instantly.

He spent the first few years of his life in the Chicago suburb of Lansing until his parents divorced; he then moved with his mother to Marysville, Ohio, while his two older brothers stayed behind with their father.

[22] Gale was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina with the 2nd Marine Division until he was discharged in November 2003, less than halfway through the typical four-year enlistment period.

[27] Others noted that he would talk and laugh to himself, would pretend to hold an imaginary dog, and that he would bother patrons at the tattoo parlor across the street from his apartment, staring at clients and engaging them in conversations about heavy metal music.

[38] Niggemeyer, the on-duty police officer who had engaged in deadly force, was brought before a grand jury as standard procedure to determine if there had been any wrongdoing.

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian said that his view of stage rushers changed after Abbott's murder, and that, "I don't give a fuck how much fun you're having.

"[14] Immediately after the shooting, many concert venues tightened their security standards by hiring off-duty police officers as guards, checking attendees' pockets and bags more thoroughly, and in some cases studying setlists to anticipate when fans may become troublesome.

By 2014, however, Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz and We Are Harlot guitarist Jeff George noted that many venues had relaxed their security protocols due to the associated costs.

[49] Abbott was a popular and influential figure in the heavy metal community, and his death created a mass outpouring of grief among other bands and artists of the time.

"[52] Vinnie Paul donated an unreleased 24-second guitar solo to Nickelback that they incorporated into the 2005 track "Side of a Bullet", which describes the shooting from the point of view of the killer.

[53] Other tribute songs include "Dimes in Heaven" by Brides of Destruction and "Dimebag" by Cross Canadian Ragweed,[54][55] while the 2005 albums Ten Thousand Fists by Disturbed,[56] Lifesblood for the Downtrodden by Crowbar,[57] and Start a War by Static-X were all dedicated to Abbott's memory.

[59] Machine Head, meanwhile, was inspired to write "Aesthetics of Hate" after frontman Robb Flynn read an article praising Gale for the murder of "a semi-human barbarian".