Cop Who Shot Dimebag Darrell's Shooter Speaks Out After 22 Years

James Niggemeyer, the police officer who shot Dimebag Darrell's killer at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio back in 2004, has shared in a new interview that he has no regrets about his involvement in how things played out that night, even though it ultimately led to issues that ended his career as a first responder.

Niggemeyer suffered panic attacks after taking down Nathan Gale, the gunman responsible for killing multiple people including the Damageplan guitarist. And that ultimately led to a transfer to becoming a detective in the robbery division.

What James Niggemeyer Said About His Involvement in Taking Down Dimebag Darrell's Killer

Niggemeyer was a guest on the Today's Boondoggle Podcast in which he detailed the events of that evening, the impact it's had on his life and the aftermath of how his life has turned out.

But the big takeaway for Niggemeyer is that he's able to look back now, 22 years later, with no regrets about his actions in taking down the killer.

"It affected me mentally, but that also affected me physically, to the point where the department retired me medically because of it," recalled the officer. "So, yeah, it ended my career, something that I did, everybody tells me extremely well, ended up ending my career. But I don't regret it for a minute. I'm glad I was able to stop him before a lot more people were hurt."

He added that while his life spiraled for a bit after the shooting, he shared, "That's part of the job. You sign up for it. You just have to deal with it, I guess."

What James Niggemeyer Recalls From the Incident

Upon arriving at the scene, Niggemeyer was directed to an entry through the back of the club. Nathan Gale had been holding a hostage but Niggemeyer was able to take his shot to essentially end the situation.

He shared that he was unaware initially who had been shot upon arriving. "At the time, I had no clue who was playing in that venue. Of course I had heard of Pantera," he explained [editor's note: Pantera's Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul were actually playing with their new band Damageplan that particular night.] "I'd say maybe a half hour after the incident to when I found out who was shot that night. It was just through radio chatter that I had heard it. And then, of course we all had cell phones and things and it was breaking news worldwide. So, yeah, no clue until maybe a half hour after."

As for the incident itself, he recalled, "Between hunting my whole life and military and police training, it was just a culmination of everything I had been through in my life. And you hear the words 'tunnel vision', but it was true — I had true tunnel vision. Literally, everything was black except for the suspect and the hostage. It was a true tunnel vision. I literally didn't hear or see anything else. I can't even tell you what people were screaming."

What Happened to James Niggemeyer After Shooting Nathan Gale

Prior to joining the police force, Niggemeyer had served in the military. But this was the first incident for him in actually taking a life.

He shared, "This was the first time that — ending a person's life, you don't know how it's gonna affect you. Everybody can tell you whatever they want to tell you, but there's very select few people that have ever been involved in something like that, whether they were in combat or police. But I was hospitalized for panic attacks. That was the thing that got me the most, was the panic attacks and then the constant nightmares. It really took me a long time that my brain just wouldn't shut down. And doctors and everybody tried a lot of different things to try to get it."

Watch more from the interview below.