COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec 10 (AFP) - A heavy metal fan who gunned down a reknowned guitarist during a mysterious rampage at a concert this week was a loner who struggled to fit in, people who knew him said Friday.
Physically, Nathan Gale cut an imposing figure, standing six feet, three inches (two meters) and tipping the scales at more than 113 kilograms (250 pounds). He had had several minor brushes with the law -- chiefly for driving on a suspended license and sleeping in a local park.
But the overriding impression of the man who killed Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott, a founding member of the cult 1990s band Pantera, and three bystanders, was that of a social misfit.
"He was odd, but he was trying really hard to fit in," recalled Emi Walden, a waitress at Maggie's Restaurant in Marysville, Ohio, where Gale was a regular.
"He would sit for a long period after he was done eating and kind of chit-chat with whoever was here ... just to be around people. Sometimes, he would drop by the bar where I worked nights to check who was in there.
"He never stopped though," she added. "To the best of my knowledge, he didn't even drink."
Across town at the Bears Den Tattoo Shop, where Gale got a tribal tattoo on his forearm and where he was a frequent visitor in recent weeks, manager Lucas Bender struggled to describe the ex-Marine.
"He was usually polite ... but there was something about him that threw everybody off ... something in the way he presented himself. He gave you a creepy feeling," said Bender.
"He didn't seem like he had any friends, and he said he had an imaginary dog."
Authorities say they may never know why the 25-year-old drove to the concert in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, stormed the stage, and killed Abbott, before firing randomly into the crowd.
Gale became the fifth fatality of the night when he was shot by a police officer.
Walden said she and several other colleagues were planning to attend Gale's funeral out of respect to his mother, who lived a couple of blocks from her son in Marysville, a town of 12,000, 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the state capital, Columbus.
A football coach described how Gale, a linebacker for a semi-pro team, would listen to Pantera on his headset before a game to psyche himself up.
"You wouldn't look at him and think he was capable of doing something like this," said Mark Green, coach of the Lima Thunder football team, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
A US Defense Department official said Gale was in the Marines for about 18 months, but was discharged in November 2003.
The official would not say why he left, but discipline problems or a psychological or medical discharge were the most likely causes, according to press reports.
Walden, 33, said she was dumbfounded when she found out Gale was the gunman in Wednesday's shooting, and that she and others at the diner planned to attend his funeral.
"I was shocked. He was odd, but he was very soft-spoken. I wasn't afraid of him.
"A few of us have been talking about going to the funeral so his mother has some support. She lost someone, too."
The events of Wednesday have sent shock waves through heavy metal circles, with many musicians saying the circumstances of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott's death made them leery of the kind of fan antics that are commonplace at many gigs.
"The stage is an environment where you tend to feel safe," said David Draiman, lead singer for the metal band Disturbed, whose last album, "Believe," sold 1.5 million copies.
"There are always guys jumping on and off of it, stage-diving, and prior to this incident, I welcomed it. But I don't know who might be running up there with a gun now. I'm sure there are people who hate me, too. Everyone's at risk now."

12/10/2004 22:57 GMT - AFP